Hatching Eggs
by Pagen Godess
Summary: No one can ever hope to understand why they stand with us as little more than slaves when they could whipe us from the face of the Earth. Slight Transfomers/Pokemon X-over. On hold due to lack of proper computer.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The world in which we live is filled with numerous wonders. Perhaps the most wonderful and the most mysterious of these are the creatures that the human race has named Pokémon. For sometime since the beginning of time these creatures have changed very little and all but claimed the planet that they share with people and animals as there own.

These amazing creatures have harnessed the powers of the elements themselves, mastered evolution on a grand scale, all but pushed their less fortunate cousins off of the map and according to legend have sworn to help human kind.

The reason why these creatures that could so easily dominate our world and eliminate humans altogether have lowered themselves to being mere pets, partners, and in some cases slaves and science experiments is unknown to any who have dared asked the question; Why? Perhaps the answer is unknown to even the poke'mon themselves lost to time and only felt as some sort of primitive drive to obtain a type of power that can only be gained by working with the very being that are as of now killing their homes.

It is possible that they know that together our kinds can accomplish great things that have long been thought imposable. For together we can do great things if only people would stop and listen to what others have to say.

Or perhaps they seek to help us protect the world in which they live from a danger older and worse than even their kind has to offer. Perhaps they know that if we do not fight together then our world has no hope of survival.

- Unknown

ooo

The sound of several CV-22's filled the desert air as they headed towards the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base. Each one carrying both soldiers and supplies. The occupants of the first CV-22 however weren't paying the sound of the crafts engine any mind instead they were all sending half annoyed looks at one of their members who refused to quit singing aloud to whatever was currently playing on his I-pod.

Captain William Lennox shook his head in annoyance and proceeded to scratch the area around the horns of his Houndoom Sidney. Dark red eyes crossed in pleasure and tongue hanging out of the side of her reddish orange snout Sidney was apparently unaware of her trainers growing annoyance.

"Who sings that song Epps?" Lennox asked, speaking loudly so that he could be heard over his friends music. Epps blinked and looked at him before replying.

"Daddy Yankee." The dark skinned man replied. Lennox smirked slightly.

"Well then let him sing it or better yet let Yankee sing it because we all know he sounds a lot better than you do." Lennox said as he pointed the pokémon that sat next to Epps.

Mostly white with red markings on its front paws, left ear, and an m shaped mark on his belly. Though the thing that stood out most were the wicked claws that adorned it's front paws. A Zangoose like any other. Yankee, named after the very singer that had been talked about, looked between his trainer and Lennox for a few moments before nudging his head up against Epps's side in an attempt to get the man's attention. Epps meanwhile looked offended at his friends statement.

"Ya well when I win American Idol and get rich I'll remember what you said and when you come to me need'n cash you'll be shit outta luck." Lennox snorted and shot a look over at another of the soldiers riding with them. He was about to say something but was caught up in the other man's muttering.

"Sixteen months of this. I can't wait to get some of momma's alligators éeouffée." Jorge 'Fig' Figueroa said with a half wishful smile on his face. Apparently the memory of his mothers cooking was far more appetizing to him than it was to the other members of the CV-22. Lennox and Epps shared a look, one that was mimicked by Sydney and Yankee, before one of them managed to speak.

"Man remind me to never eat at your momma's place like ever. Cause her cooking sounds nasty." Fig made a face and made a motion to reach for one of the pokéballs on his belt.

"That's my heritage we're talking about." Sensing that a battle, a stupid one at that, might just about be ready to take place in a place not meant for battling Lennox thought it best to interfere.

"Hey you guys remember weekends?" The almost battle died in a heartbeat.

"I hear that." Epps said as he finally scratched Yankee behind an ear. Fig's hand returned to it previous position and he turned to Lennox.

"What's the first thing your gonna do when you get home Captain?" Lennox's look turned just as wishful as Fig had been not long before.

"First thing I'm gonna do is hold my baby girl. Imprint and start teaching her to say daddy." This comment gat him teased more than Fig's about missing his mother's cooking as a few 'aww's' and a 'that's adorable' filled the air.

Epps offered him and grin and pulled a battered picture out of his pocket. His own kids stared out at his fellow soldiers as he waved it in front of their faces.

"Be warned man once they start talking back they own ya. After that it'll be 'Daddy I wanna Ponyta or a Skitty or a Lillipup.'" Epps smirked as he looked at Lennox. Lennox's replying growl was matched only by Sydney's.

"Are you done yet?" Epps only grinned at him.

"Fine don't come cry'n to me when she starts." The slight jolt that ran through the CV-22 shut the occupants up faster than even a direct order could have. Epps placed the picture of his kids back in his pocket as they prepared to exit the craft.

The soldiers departure was apparently what Sergeant First Class Donnely was waiting for, for no sooner had their feet touched ground before he was upon them. The younger man was pestering them for the results of a baseball game that he'd bet on. The reply he was given was far from what he had wanted to hear.

Lennox found that he could only smile as he listened to Epps heckle the younger soldier about being able to get a bookie even while in the middle of the desert. His smile widened even further when his eyes landed on Mahfouz a kid from a village a couple miles from the base. The youngster visited the base every chance he got so it wasn't very unusual to see him and his Sandshrew running around annoying the soldiers.

As if his staring had alerted the boy to his presence Mahfouz turned and looked right at him a smile splitting the boys face before he started towards the older man.

"Lennox man you cool. Did you bring chocolate?" Lennox shook his head at the kids question.

"Sorry kid already ate it." A horrified look crossed Mahfouz's face before he began hopping up and down.

"You lie! Give it to me before I call down the wrath of Rakan and Jalila upon you!" Lennox laughed and shook his head. Something's never changed no matter what part of the world you were in. Kids and comic book hero's were one of them.

Digging in his pocket Lennox pulled out a bar of candy and gave the boy in front of him a slightly stern look. "I give this to you your Sandshrew gets a piece too."

Mahfouz nodded eagerly. The candy's wrapping was gone barley a few moments after the bar had left Lennox's hand but the look of delight that was on the faces of both Mahfouz and his Sandshrew would have been worth the lost fingers.

"Give us a hand with the gear." Lennox said as he lead the younger away. It was a fair trade considering that the kid spent a good amount of time sitting in the Rec Room watching TV with them as well as shamelessly begging for candy.

ooo

The heat that tormented the soldiers outside wasn't a problem for those that were stationed inside of the air-conditioned Operations Center. At that moment however the cool air inside of the room wasn't providing any sort of relief.

"Unidentified inbound infiltrator ten miles out and closing." Reported a man that sat in front of one of the room's many consoles. Within seconds a higher up was standing behind him looking at the same readout that he himself was staring at. Sadly the higher up couldn't make any more sense of it than his comrade. He could however give the unidentified intruder a warning.

"Unidentified aircraft you are in restricted air space, squawk ident and proceed east out of the area." If there was a response it was lost to a sea of static. Was the comm. unit bad or was whomever was flying the craft trying for more time? The watch commander had no idea which one it was but he did know that it was time to take action.

"Raptors One and Two: snap to heading two-five-zero for intercept. Bogie is in the weeds ten miles out and not squawking."

ooo

Darkness was falling on the base much like it was falling in the surrounding desert. Lennox was ready to feed himself and his poke'mon and then head to the Rec Room for a little but of R and R before turning in for the night. The persistent ringing of his cell phone however was preventing him from doing so.

"Lennox." he replied waiting for the voice on the other end of the line to acknowledge him in return.

"Captain I'm pleased to report that we have a secure home front connection for you." Those words sent Lennox over the moon. "Please hold and respond to the incoming link."

Lennox had his laptop out and was getting it ready before the words were even finished being spoken. As soon as his login was accepted his wife's face appeared heart achingly clear on the screen of his computer. She was sitting in the kitchen feeding Annabelle.

"How are my ladies?" Lennox asked trying to work past the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat.

"Missing their man." Sarah's reply was crystal clear and there was very little delay between video and sound. "It's official. She has your laugh."

Lennox wasn't sure if he wanted to burst into tears or start laughing. His baby's first laugh another in the long list of first's that he'd missed.

"Her first laugh are you sure? Come on it must have been gas." Sarah's laugh sent both pleasure and pain bolting through him.

"It was a for real laugh." Lennox shook his head.

"You see I was telling her about the night that you locked us out of the house and instead of going to the neighbors for the spare key you decided to build a fire in the backyard and nine months later-"

"Hey," Lennox interrupted, "I though we said we'd wait till she was two before getting into the R rated stuff." Sarah's eyes had a far away look to them. For the moment she was lost down memory lane.

"I started laughing when I got to the part about the keys being in you jacket pocket the whole time. Then she started laughing but I think it was more at you them with you." Lennox grinned.

"Did you ever think that maybe I locked us out on purpose?" Sarah smirked and offered up a challenge.

"Did you ever think that I slipped those keys back into you pocket when you weren't looking?" Even from half a world away her laughter still lifted him higher than a kite. "Are you still coming home soon baby?"

Lennox nodded. "I'm due for a rotation. The Colonel assured me that I'm right on to of the list. No BS this time." he said as he tried to make eye contact with his daughter through the computer screen. "You hear that Annabelle? You're gonna get to meet your daddy any day-" Lennox's words halted as the picture in front of him burst into pixels.

"Sarah?" The sound of his wife's voice could barley be heard over what was left of the connection and it was with an annoyed huff that Lennox closed his computer. Thankfully both he and Sarah were familiar with such unforeseen interruptions though it didn't make them any easier to bear when they did happen.

"Well this sucks doesn't it Sydney?" In response to her trainers question Sydney got to her feet and nudged his side with a soft whine. Turning away from where he'd left his laptop sitting Lennox focused instead on the incoming chopper.

He wasn't the only one who had turned his attention to it either. Epps and the other mean that made up his group were watching it as well. Lennox found that he had to admire the pilots skill when the man managed a smooth lading in the dark. As soon as the chopper sat down however Sidney began growling her hackles raised and her teeth bared. It was a reaction that was being repeated by Yankee and every other pokémon that was outside of their pokéball at that moment. And if that hadn't been enough to set Lennox on edge the flotilla of Humvees that had weapons ready would have.

"What's going on Lennox?" Epps asked as he and Yankee made their way over. Yankee had moved so that it was standing on it back paws instead of all four of it's feet and it looked like it was ready to tear into something. Sidney looked just as tense. The small jet of flame that she exhaled a moment later only confirmed her battle ready state.

There was something wrong with the chopper and all of the pokémon knew it. Lennox looked back at the chopper his gaze landing on the pilot. The man sitting inside had a blank look on his face despite the fact that he was surrounded by ready weapons both human and pokémon. Every soldier watched as not four minutes later as the pilot seemed to fizzle and disappear.

ooo

In the command center every screen was taken over by electronic mush. Then every single readout went berserk no two readouts showing the same thing.

"Radar's jammed! And systems are failing." A tech's voice declared as it rose slowly in pitch. The room was in motion almost immediately. It wasn't until one soldier took a moment to look at the newest addition to the base that they realized the cause.

"It's coming from the chopper!"

ooo

Lennox wasn't sure when he'd started slowly backing up towards the big tent that he and his men and the helpful Mahfouz had been stacking supplies in but the one thing that made him aware of it was that Sidney hadn't moved and inch.

In fact while most of the soldiers around him were backing up none of their pokémon had moved. Yankee had moved so that he was standing next to Sidney but that was it. Lennox wasn't sure if it was safe to try and pull his Houndoom back or not. There was a very real chance that he'd get bitten if he tried to do so.

There was a flash as lights exploded and when the flash faded the chopper had moved. It just wasn't moving in a way he'd ever seen. Parts shifted so that the chopper was no longer a chopper but something else entirely. It had arms, legs, a head, and a name: Blackout. Blackout of course offered the soldiers and the creatures around them nothing of course.

Not even his name. Lennox wasn't quite sure what he was seeing or if it was even real. Even if it wasn't real Sidney looked like she was about to jump at it. Lennox made a mad grab for Sidney's empty pokéball mirroring the actions of Epps and most of the other soldiers around him. Several flashes of red filled the air as pokémon were called back into the safety of their balls. It came just in time to for moments later there was a clap like thunder and a moving wall of air knocked every soldier and remaining pokémon off of their feet.

Then everything went to hell. There wasn't any time to react as a Blackout turned his attention from the fallen creatures at his feet a row of parked C-17's. The blaring of the base's alarm caused soldiers to arrive from their various starting points just in time to see the large planes destroyed. Soldiers both men and women began to scream and search for cover as Blackout proceeded to attack the base.

None of them knew what to do and few were willing to risk their pokémon against an enemy that they knew nothing about. To make matters worse fire and smoke took visibility in the area down to almost nothing. Only the sound of occasional blasts and screams could be heard.

ooo

The roof of the command room was ripped off by an unseen force. The reactions that came from seeing the large hand that reached down into that room ran from panic to stunned fascination. Techs watched as the hand felt around the room for something.

That something turned out to be one of the few still working consoles. They continues to watch as the console was ignored for a fistful of wires. The wires themselves seemed to come alive as the hand pulled them and they snapped free of one end of whatever they were clinging too.

They wriggled like an Arbok slithering through the forest and attached themselves to different parts of the robotic hand that held them. Only the watch commander wasn't watching the goings on with the robots hand instead he was looking at one of the still working screens and the words that were flashing across it.

**PROJECT ICE MAN- TOP SECRET SCI- SECTOR SEVEN ACESS ONLY **

While the commander had no idea what Sector Seven was he did know that the files being taken or at least looked at were restricted to an unbelievable point. The sight of a senior officer picking his way across the room caught his attention.

"It's going after the deep files! Cut the hard lines!" It took a moment fore the man to hear his over the loud electronic squeal that still filled the air but a nod from the other man reassured him that he had in fact been heard. The commander watched as a Great Ball was pulled from the man's belt and thrown in the direction of the lines that needed to be cut. There was a flash of red as the creature the had been trapped inside was released. Before what was released even became clear an order was being shouted.

"Weavile use Metal Claw to cut the lines!"

There was a flurry of movement as the black and red pokémon lunged towards the desired lines it's sharp claws glowing silver.

"Vile!" Weavile's sharp cry cut through the air just as the lines were cut through. The howl of outrage that followed moments later didn't promise good things for anything living on the base.

ooo

The base had dissolved into complete and utter chaos. Not that it surprised Lennox all that much as he and his men as well as Mahfouz ran along a row of tanks trying to find some sort of transport out of the base. Any other time there would have been keys left in at least half a dozen of the vehicles they had already passed.

If it came down to a worst case scenario those of them who had flying type could always ride out but not being sure about what they were up against killed the odds of any of them risking any of their team human or pokémon. Reaching the end of the tanks and still running Lennox was far from pleased to find that they were now open targets for whatever it was that was attacking the base. A large metal foot slammed down on an empty trailer squishing it flat.

Lennox glanced back at Epps for a moment. None of them had anything other than small forearms on them at the moment and sometime during their run Epps had picked up a thermal imager. Lennox shook his head. Leave it to Epps to pick up the latest in technology and leave a rifle. Lennox tried to keep an eye on his comrades but was having trouble doing so while dodging the robots (for that's was the only thing it could be) large feet.

Epps slid to the ground as a large foot slammed down next to him. Rolling to dodge another foot Epps swung the thermal imager upwards. He wasn't sure if the imager would even show anything but considering the amok machine was blotting out most of the sky behind it he felt certain that there had to be something to show. Then he was rolling to his feet and trying to catch up with his buddies. Unknown to either Lennox or Epps was the fact that they weren't the only one's aware of the thermal imager.

The moment that Epps had snapped the image blackout had become aware of it's presence as well. Honing in on the small device weaponry was then unleashed. Lennox barely had time to pin Mahfouz to the ground as something shot passed them and exploded in the air. The next few minutes were a blur of running and bullets as Lennox and his men made a stand against the mechanoids that was attacking their base.

The flares that were launched from the weapon that Fig had secures and that Lennox was firing actually managed to knock the being back a few steps. No one however noticed the creature the detached itself from blackout and proceeded to disappear underground.

They never noticed that it followed them to the edge of the base and into the desert. Neither Lennox or Epps or any of the other's were aware of the fact that they had just become Skorponok's prey.

ooo

The lunch bell at Tranquility High School was an often looked forward to part of the school day for both teachers and students. For teachers it allowed them forty-five minutes of free time away from students and for students it was forty-five minutes of time that was all their own and they could do almost anything they wanted during that time. It was also forty-five minutes that their pokémon were allowed out of their pokéball's, so long as they were outside of course.

It was something that most students were more than happy to do because if they spent all day bored then it had to be worse for their pokémon who weren't allowed out of their balls except for certain classes and lunch. Lunch was a chance to show off one's pokémon's strength or beauty. More so than in any other group strength and beauty were a major part of being a pokémon that belonged to one of the popular kids.

Mikaela Banes was no exception to this rule as she sat with a group of her friends. The gaggle of girls were taking turns ohhing and awing over each others pokémon. The current subject of the groups attention was none other than the brown and cream rabbit like form of Mikaela's Lopunny, Venus. Hands ran over fur that was brushed to a shine and was silky smooth to the touch and Venus took every chance she could to bask in the attention she was getting.

The complements were however drowned out by the voice of Mikaela's current boyfriend Trent DeMarco. Looking every bit like the star football player that he was Trent's voice was loud and carried over the voices of the other students as he yelled at his favorite target.

"Hey Wikity the homeless shelter called! They want their cloths back!" The person that Trent had just yelled at turned slightly to look at him giving everyone around him a good view of what he was wearing.

His shirt was worn and the jacket he wore over it was ripped and torn in a few places. His pants were missing their knees and the leather cord that hung around his neck looked like it had seen better days despite the fact that the fang that hung from it was a gleaming white. Even his shoes looked like they had seen better days as the sole of the left shoe was starting to come off.

The brown eyes of one of the schools outcasts turned from looking around to looking towards Trent and regarded him with very little emotion. Why would it bother him any when he was teased and picked on everyday? He was far to used to the teases and insults that were thrown his way to care. Besides he had better things to do at that moment.

"He's suck a freak." One of Mikaela's friends muttered as she watched the boy disappear around the corner of the garden clubs greenhouse. Several of the people around her agreed. It was true to an extent. Sam Witwicky was one of the school freaks. It was even possible that he was the biggest freak. Not that anyone really knew all that much about the reclusive teenager. In fact all Mikaela herself knew about him was that he lived alone on a pokémon preserve that sat a few miles outside of town.

His parents had died when he was young and his Grandfather had died a few years after them leaving him alone. Most people wondered how he made a living because no one she knew had ever reported seeing him work anywhere in town and rumor had it that he had some sort of deal with the town council about him going to school in return for something.

What it was she didn't know though most people suspected that it was money. The Witwicky kid wasn't very social and spent most of his time outside of class avoiding people. He was a mystery that was for sure. A mystery that she had no desire to crack or to get to know. Not when she had her own social status to worry about after all.

ooo

Sam sighed as he turned the around the corner of the schools greenhouse and continued walking. Trent's little shout out had stung, they always stung, but he was far to used to them to really care. And despite what Trent said his cloths weren't bad enough to have belonged to a homeless shelter.

In fact the only part of what he was wearing that looked like it might have once belonged to someone homeless were his pants and that was only because the knee's had been torn and the bottoms looked like they'd been chewed on. That was probably because they had been chewed on and he preferred his pants being chewed on to his fingers being chewed on.

Then again his shoes had the same chewed on look that his pants did and it was for the same reason. Sam made a mental note to stop wearing his current pair of shoes to school and switch to one of his newer pairs. In fact the only reason he was even wearing his currently falling apart shoes was because he tended to wear things until he absolutely had to get new ones. His shoes had defiantly hit that point.

Scratching the back of his head and smiling slightly as he neared his favorite place to sit during lunch. Sam couldn't help the more relaxed feeling that overcame him as the headache that had been pounding behind his eyes since morning faded slightly. Finally reaching his desired spot Sam sat down and leaned back against the rough bark of one of the tree's that sat on the schools property.

To tell the truth he hated school and it wasn't the work or the classes that he hated but the waves of uncontrolled emotion that attacked his senses almost constantly. If it weren't for the fact that he was able to separate himself from the crowd during lunch he doubted that he'd have been able to make it through a school day at all.

Being an empath just sucked like that. Being able to sense emotions was a needed ability with his job but every other second that it wasn't needed tended to be a headache. Large crowds often left him feeling like his head was about to explode and the more people and pokémon there were the worse it was. A loud chattering drew Sam's attention from where he was seated and he couldn't help but smile at the sight that greeted him even though it was the same thing that happened almost everyday.

Miles was walking towards him with his usual smile plastered on his face. The blonde teen was carrying two lunch trays, one of which Sam knew was for him. It wasn't just his friend however that made him smile for chasing each other around the school's lawn were two of Miles pokémon.

Deep purple fur covering most of her body except for the light yellow of her face, belly, and the pair of hand like appendages that adorned her red tipped tails Delany was just as fun loving and playful as any other Ambipom.

Elvis on the other hand was almost too mischievous for his own good. A single tail adorned this green and light yellow monkey with a pomp. The only thing that set Elvis apart from his kind was the fact that he was slightly smaller than most other Simisage.

Sam watched in amusement as the pair chased one another up the tree he was leaning against chattering at one another the entire way.

"They need to get on with it and lay an egg already."

Miles laughed. "Well I looked it up and apparently Delaney should come into season sometime soon. Who knows I may just end up with an egg before long ." Miles said as he handed Sam one of the trays he was carrying and sat down. "Speaking of eggs. I wanna see when your through eating."

Sam blinked and looked up from where he'd been putting salt in his ketchup. "See what?" he asked. Miles made a face before answering.

"Don't pull that crap with me man. You told me this morning that one of your eggs hatched and I wanna know what it is!"

Sam smiled. It was true enough. One of the eggs that he watched over had hatched the night before and he'd been mean and hadn't told Miles what had hatched from it when he'd seen his friend that morning.

"Your just as bad as Mojo you know that. I hadn't even finished filling out the baby's chart before he was trying to get a good look. Not that it's to hard for him." Sam muttered the last part of his sentence before eating a fry.

"What do you expect man he's a freak'n Arcanine you couldn't stop him if you tried. Besides he's bigger then you are."

"I know he's bigger than I am. He's only been that way since I turned thirteen." Mojo, bless him, had been Sam's first pokémon ever and while he'd been slightly protective of Sam when he was a Growlithe he'd become majorly overprotective when he'd been evolved into an Arcanine. He was also Sam's main ride to school and back home everyday.

"He's not going to take me getting a car well." Sam said as he ran a finger over the battered pokéball that held said pokémon. Miles nodded in understanding. Ignoring the sudden change in topic. "Of course he isn't. He takes you everywhere and on the rare occasion that he can't take you somewhere then I take you. Your getting rid of one of his jobs by getting a car." Miles said as he waved a rather soggy fry at his friend.

Sam tilted his head back and groaned. "I know that but he can't carry groceries or a dozen pokémon eggs and you can't keep hauling me around now that you have a job. He's gonna be mad a me for months." Sam muttered unhappily as he looked down at the trey in his lap before shaking his head and moving it. Whatever appetite he's had had just vanished. Sighing Sam rubbed at his eyes for a moment before reaching for one of the pokéballs on his belt. "You ready to see what hatched last night?" Sam asked his friend.

He'd dwell on Mojo being mad at him when the time came.

"Hell ya bro!" Miles said as he put his tray aside and moved forward. His excited tone drew both Elvis and Delaney out of the tree and down to them. Sam spared the pair of pokémon little mind, they new better than to annoy baby pokémon, as he pulled a pokéball from his belt. The ball he pulled was different from the most of the other balls on his belt for this ball lacked the worn look it fellows possessed.

This ball had been painted a shiny black and was dotted with what appeared to be stars set against a swirling galaxy. Pressing the button in the center caused the ball to enlarge. Pressing it again freed the creature that had been trapped inside.

Barley a foot long the little creature that Sam now held in his arms was mostly light blue except for the black that covered it's hind legs, half its chest, and a black mask that covered its face and a pair of raindrop shaped appendages that hung down from the side of it's head. Red eyes peered out from eyelids that were barley open.

The most unusual thing about the pokémon that was cradled in Sam's arms however were the three white dots that adorned the black mask. The smile that was on Sam's face was only rivaled by the amazed look his friend was giving him.

"Dude I don't think I've ever seen a Riolu up close before. Do you know how rare they are?" Sam gave Miles a flat look.

"Of course I know how rare they are you idiot. I've seen more Lucario than I have Riolu. Now hand me my bag it's lunch time for Orion." Miles raised an eyebrow as he handed Sam his bag.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Sam asked as he pulled out a bottle that had been wrapped in some sort of thermal covering.

"Why Orion? He doesn't look like a mighty hunter to me." Sam huffed lightly as he looked down at the pokémon being cradled in one of his arms while he used his other hand to hold the bottle it was now drinking from. It was true that the baby pokémon he held didn't look like much at the moment but that would change in a month or two.

"I named him Orion because of the white spots on his mask. They made me think of Orion's Belt." Miles made a small "ah" of understanding.

"So are you ready for your report in Hosney's class."

ooo

The last class of the couldn't come soon enough. Sam half wondered what it would be like to go a single day of school without his head hurting. Though the press of emotions wasn't as bad in the classroom as it was in the halls. It helped a bit that almost everyone in the class was feeling the same boredom he felt. Something about it helped dull the pain slightly. He wasn't quite sure why it worked that way and if he remembered he'd look it up when he was at home and had the time.

For now he was trying his hardest to focus on the kid in front of him and the report he was giving on his grandfather of so many greats. He'd stopped paying full attention when the kid had pulled out a book of some sort that he insisted on going through. Brown eyes shifted up towards the clock above the chalkboard. Ten minutes of class left and then he could leave. The fact that Hosney looked half asleep in his chair didn't help him find the desire to pay attention to the kid at the front of the room.

Sam blinked and closed his eyes only to have Miles elbow him in the side. Sam grunted and shot Miles a look only to have the blonde nod towards the front of the room.

"Your report Mr. Witwicky." Mr. Hosney drawled. He sounded about as excited to hear Sam's report as he had been to hear the other seventeen. Standing from his seat Sam took a moment to grab the bag that he'd gotten out of his locker before he'd entered the classroom. Trudging up to the front of the room Sam wasn't really surprised that he was followed by whispers and laughs. He was also quite sure that he felt a rubber band hit the back of his head as he reached the front of the class.

Trent's smiling face assured him that he had in fact been hit by said projectile and Trent had been the one to shoot it. Having placed his poster board bearing his family tree within visual range Sam took a deep breath and prayed to a handful of legendaries before he began speaking.

"I did my family genealogy report on my great- great- grandfather, Captain Archibald Witwicky. Captain Witwicky was one of the first men to explore the Artic shelf which back then was a really big deal. In the middle of an Artic winter he and a handful or either very brave or very stupid people straight into the Artic shelf where their ship was caught in the ice."

"Forced to depart from the ship in an attempt to clear a path so that they could continue Archibald suffered a fall of unknown distance. It was believed that while trying to get him out of the hole he'd fallen into he suffered some sort of injury or had a nasty run in with an unknown pokémon. For when he was pulled from the ice his vision had vanished and he was raving about some sort of Ice Man."

Sam stopped so that he could pull a few items out of his bag. A damaged group of sailors tools were laid out along the table in front of him. Ignoring the laughs that came from the other students as he explained what each item was Sam was sure that they were as interested in what he had to tell them as he had been in what they'd had to tell him.

"Sadly Archibald's metal health rapidly deteriorated and no help was available to him. He wound up spending the rest of his life in a nut house drawing a series of strange symbols and raving on and on about his Ice Man and some sort of coming war." Sam stopped for half a second his eyes glancing up so that he could look at the other occupants of the room. He was about to continue when a most miraculous event happened.

The final bell rang. It was with a sigh of relief that he put the items that he'd set out on the table back into his bag. Another day of school over only a year and a half left. Having gathered everything that he'd used for his report up Sam made to move towards the desk that was his during class so that he could get his satchel.

Only Hosney's voice stopped him. "May I have a word Mr. Witwicky?"

Sam blinked and turned to look at his Social Studies teacher. Closing his eyes and focusing for a brief second Sam attempted to reach out and feel for the other man's feelings. He was met with worry and a sort of curiosity that Sam was familiar with having felt it in many of his other teachers.

None of the teachers that thought nonpokémon related classes seemed to know that he was empathic. Trudging towards the teachers desk Sam half wished that the man had just left him alone.

"Yes, Mr. Hosney?"

"Your report seemed lacking. You had plenty of time to gather the required information or is your outside job interfering with your study time?"

Sam sighed in annoyance. "It's hard to know what's fact and what's not when you don't have any relatives on either side of your family to confirm or deny how valid they are. Besides there wouldn't be a lot of information on an insane sailor out there anyways. Nobody really cared about what Great great grandpa did or didn't find in the ice."

Sam stopped and took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. He hated talking about his family in any way. He always felt like he was lacking something afterwards. "And my job had nothing to do with my lack of information. You have the packet of stuff you had us make so you could check our facts for yourself. There was little more to be found then what I had."

Hosney fixed Sam with a look that seemed to promise that their conversation wasn't over yet. Sam on the other hand was tired of his teachers trying to pry into his home life. At least Hosney hadn't brought the condition of his cloths into the conversation though he had a feeling that if they had another talk that his cloths would end up being a topic.

Shaking his head Hosney dismissed him and it was with an inward whoop of joy that Sam made his way out of the building.

Miles was waiting outside of the exit for him. Thankfully the blonde avoided the obvious question and asked something else instead.

"Want me to drive you to a car lot?" Sam stopped and turned to look at his friend.

"Why?" Miles smirked.

"So I can laugh at the junker your forced to buy and so you can have a few more hours of Mojo not being mad at you." Sam gave Miles an odd look for a moment before shaking his head.

"Na, I figure that I might as well piss him off now so he can get over it faster. Thanks for the offer though." Miles nodded.

Light chatter drifted between the two as they walked towards the parking lot. It had become a weird tradition for Sam to walk with Miles to the blonde's own junker. Most of the students were gone with only after school students or sports players remaining.

Sam waved good-bye to Miles as the blonde drove away in his car before reaching for the most worn and battered pokéball on his belt. Both the ball and the pokémon inside of it were almost the same age as he was. Smiling slightly Sam tossed the ball into the air and watched as it burst open and a red stream of light released the best within.

The sorry state of the pokéball it came from was vastly different from the state of the pokémon it unleashed. Tiger stripped red orange fur shone in the sun and looked as smooth as silk and the only other color on Mojo were the crème colored mane, tail, and tufts of fur that were on each leg. A happy bark was the only warning Sam had before he was knocked over by the overly enthusiastic Arcanine. Mojo's wet tongue was running over his face and soft paws pinned him to the ground. Sam laughed and pushed at Mojo in a silent request for him to get off.

Mojo backed off of his trainer almost immediately. Sam stood as Mojo took a few steps back. "Lets get ready to go Jo." Sam said moving to climb on the Arcanine's back. Well trained and more than happy to carry his trainer anywhere he wanted to go Mojo lowered himself slightly so that Sam could climb on his back. Sam scratched Mojo behind one ear as he shifted his seating slightly. He had no desire to fall off of Mojo's back while he was running.

"Okay big guy we gotta go do something I'm sure that you're not gonna like." A large head turned to regard him deep green eyes looking at him worriedly. "Nothing too bad I promise Jo but Miles got a job and you can't carry everything. That means that it's time for me to get a car."

The nasty look he got in return made him laugh slightly. He couldn't help it he'd been expecting more than that. He'd been expecting a nasty look and a pissed off snarl or something more than he'd gotten. But really he shouldn't have been all that surprised. Even if he hadn't been an empath he was certain that he wouldn't have had any trouble knowing what Mojo was ever feeling. The two of them were so close to each other that Sam knew Mojo's mood without the use of his empathic ability. Sam smiled and buried his face in soft cream colored fur before straitening where he sat.

"Let's go." Sam said as he dug his heals into Mojo's side. It was all the nudging that was needed because a second later Mojo had broken out in a run. Sam smiled at the joy he could feel radiating off of his friend as they moved through the streets dodging cars and other vehicles with complete and utter ease.

There was nothing better than riding on Mojo's back. It was one of the best things in the world. If Sam hadn't been afraid of heights he was sure that it'd had been like flying. The freedom that came with Mojo's ground eating run's was an always a welcome feeling. The sound of his paws hitting the ground in a rhythm that he'd know in his sleep rivaled the most wonderful song. It was freedom for both rider and the one being ridden.

ooo

Bobby Bolivia's Auto Resell and Petting Zoo was a far cry from where Sam wanted to get his first car from but it was the only place in town where he was likely to be able to afford a car. While there were a couple of other used car lots in town they sold more recent upscale cars and none of them were priced lower than five thousand dollars.

He'd only managed to save up four thousand and it'd take far to long for him to save up another thousand for a better car. So as much as he dreaded going into the car lot that sat before him he had no choice. He really needed a car. Sam eyed the lot in front of him with a weary eye. A Dodrio in a cage caught his eye along with the 'Petting Zoo' sign that hung from one of the rusted bars. Sam had a feeling that if someone even tried to pet the annoyed looking three headed bird that it'd bite off their finger before they even knew what had happened.

He was also pretty sure that the cage it was in was small enough that should a cop or a member of the local humane society see it that it could be counted as pokémon abuse. Sam had just barley caught sight of the black man heading his way before he was shouting at one of the people that was working at his lot.

"Manny! Get you cousin out of that clown suit! He's having heat stroke again scaring white folks!" Sam blinked and turned to look at the clown that was busy waving a sign. At the moment he was more scared of the man heading his way than he was of the clown. Shaking his head at the ruckus that had started behind him Sam climbed down from Mojo's back and turned to look at the man he could only assume was Bolivia.

Professional smile in place and arms open Sam feared for half a moment that the man was actually going to hug him. Thankfully he stopped a few feet short of Sam as he got a good look at Mojo. Eye's darting back and forth for the briefest of moments Sam was able to come to the conclusion that so long as Mojo was outside of his ball they weren't going to make any progress. It was with the utmost reluctance that Sam recalled him and placed his ball back on it proper place on his belt.

"Hiya, son, the names Bobby Bolivia. Like the country except without the diarrhea." Sam shrank back a moment before taking the hand that had been offered to him.

"Sam." he said.

Bobby nodded his head and shook Sam's hand with more force than was probably necessary. "Well how can I help you Sam?" Bolivia's voice sounded more than willing to help. The greed rolling off of the man however told Sam otherwise.

"I need a car."

"A new one or is this your first?" Bobby asked as he slung an arm around Sam's shoulders and pulled him close.

"My first." Sam mumbled. He hated it when people invaded his personal space. Being able to sense their emotions was bad enough he didn't want to be able to smell them too. A look of joy crossed the man's face so quickly that Sam wasn't sure if it was real or not.

"And you came to see me? Well that makes us like family. Call me Uncle Bobby B baby." There was no way in Hell that Sam was ever going to call the man that was herding him towards row upon row of beaten up old cars 'uncle' in any way. Sam tried to worm him way out of Bolivia's grip but was unsuccessful as the man continued to ramble on.

"You see Sam, drivers don't pick there cars, no sir. Cars pick their drivers. It's a mythical bond between man and machine that no woman or pokémon can ever break." Bolivia's head nodded up and down as if he were a preacher speaking the lords word.

"Trust me son I wouldn't lie to you." Sam snorted. Sure he wouldn't. The sleazy feeling he got when around people who were good liars was just apart of his imagination. Said sleazy feeling was rolling off Bolivia in a constant wave.

A loud commotion behind them caused Bolivia to let go of Sam and the brunette took that moment to make his escape into the vehicle's around him. Stopping for just a moment to snag another ball off of his belt Sam considered what he was about to do. He didn't really want to be alone with Bolivia again and letting one of his pokémon out would both keep that from happening and give him emotions to focus on other than the mad salesmen's. The sound of foot steps coming his way made Sam's choice for him.

Sam grabbed the desired ball from his belt and tossed it. The pokémon that appeared was lavender colored and an mixture of what could have been a fox and cat. A pair of large ears adorned its head and it's long tail was split in two halfway up. A red gem sat between two large purple eyes that looked at him with concern.

"Es?" Sam smiled as a soothing wave of calm filled his senses. Bending down Sam scratched the Espeon before him behind the ears before standing up again.

"Care to run interference for me Clover?" He asked as he started walking and looking at the cars around him. Head tilting to the side in a curious manner Clover's eyes darted around the lot before she began following Sam.

Paws made little to no noise as she moved in-between various cars. Sensing Sam's unease in the air around him she made sure to stick close to her trainer at least until she caught wind of something else that drew her attention.

"Eon." The sharp cry form Clover got Sam's attention the moment it was uttered. Turning Sam saw what had caught his pokémon's attention. Sitting a few yards away was a Camaro. Yellow in color with black racing stripes. The car before him looked to be in good enough shape considering that it was from a time before he'd even been thought of.

"Look Clover racing stripes. Do you think it really raced?" Sam asked as he ran his fingers down the faded paint of the cars hood. Clover tilted her head and uttered a single syllable that Sam was sure said no. "I didn't think so either." He said as he tried the door.

He wasn't sure if he should have been surprised or not when it opened with out any trouble. Casting his eyes towards Clover who seemed content if very curious about the car they were looking at Sam concluded that it wasn't a big deal apparently. Clover would be able to sense anything bad that was about to happen before it happened and he was sure that a warning of some sort would be given to him.

She'd never let him down before. Brown eyes took in the interior of the car in a single sweep. Nothing was left unseen from the lion on the dash to the items hanging from the rearview mirror or the faded leather seats. Shifting slightly so that the task would be easier Sam slide into the drivers seat and found that no matter how worn the leather was the seat was actually quiet comfortable.

"You want in?" Sam asked turning his attention to Clover. She seemed to consider for a moment before jumping up into Sam's lap and moving over to the passenger seat. Sam smiled as her comfort drifted across to him.

With or with out his empathic abilities he still would have been able to feel what she felt. Being a psychic type meant that she was empathic anyways and would have been able to connect with him in a way that would have allowed him to feel what she was feeling. It was common knowledge that bonds were almost always formed between trainers and their psychic type pokémon. It was one of the reasons why Clover was always one of the pokémon on his ever shifting team.

She was able to do what he couldn't and force others emotions away from him by forcing her emotions to be the only thing he felt. She was very good at keeping the headaches he got in crowds away while she was out and about so long as the crowd wasn't to big.

"Where did this come from?" Bolivia's sudden reappearance caused Sam to jump slightly. Apparently he'd been found only Bolivia's attention wasn't on him but the car he was sitting in. "Hey Manny, what the heck's this!"

Sam watched as the man that had chased the clown around earlier wandered over and rubbed the back of his head as he began to speak. Sam didn't hear what he said however. Light reflected from the steering wheel had caught his attention. Sam stared at the dirty mark for a moment before running a finger over it.

Most of the grim came away with his finger. What was reveled was a mark that most defiantly wasn't the Chevy chevron. Sam shrugged and turned back towards Bolivia and Manny only to find that Manny had gone and Bolivia was once again coming his way.

"You look real good in that car kid." Bolivia said as he stopped next to the open drivers side door. Sam blinked at him for a moment before turning to look at Clover. The approving look he got from her was enough.

"How much do you want for it?" Sam asked as he climbed out of the car. Clover however had curled up on the warn leather seat and looked like she was about to take a nap. Bolivia stared at him for a moment before offering up a price.

"Five thousand take it or leave it." Sam winced at the price and shook his head.

"Can't do it man. All I have is four thousand. I can't afford five at least not without a few months worth of saving and I really need a car."

"I've got plenty of other cars you can look at for four thousand. Their not as nice as this but…" Bolivia let his sentence drag to an unfinished stop. Rolling his eyes Sam climbed out of the car just as Bolivia moved towards the yellow VW Beetle that sat next to it. The door that swung open and slammed into the little yellow car was unexpected and for a moment Sam was sure that Clover had been the cause of the opening door. The idea was shot down however when he realized that he would have seen the glow from her powers surrounding the door had she done it.

That and the surprise that she was feeling convinced him that it hadn't been her. In fact Clover had jumped out of the car just seconds before the door had swung open and was now sniffing at the Camaro as if she weren't sure what to think of it. The joy of earlier had turned into curiosity. A curiosity that Sam felt as well.

"Don't worry we'll get a sledge hammer and knock this right out." Bolivia said before yelling for Manny once again. Sam shook his head. Even if it was a last resort there was no way he was ever going to buy a Bug. "And if this one isn't your style then I have one on the other side of the lot that I'm sure you'll like." Over his the shock of car doors that opened by themselves Bolivia was back in salesmen mode once again.

Sam shook his head slightly. He really doubted that Bolivia had anything other than the Camaro that he'd want even if the car in question was strange.

"I'm sure you do." Sam said his voice thick with sarcasm. Bolivia didn't seem to notice. In fact the man was busy trying to get the Camaro's passenger side door closed. Cursing slightly as he pushed he didn't seem to be having any luck. Only a moment later there came a cry of victory from the man that soon turned into a pained shout.

For the very moment the car's door slammed shut the horn started blaring at a level that was threatening to leave them all death. The noise drove Sam to his knee's in both his own and Clover's pain because while the noise was loud but not to harmful for him there was something in it that Clover could hear and he couldn't and whatever it was really hurt. Other than driving them all to their knee's the blast from the Camaro succeeded in doing one other thing. Every single window from every single car on the lot had been blown out by the noise.

The glass that littered the ground and sparkled in the sun look far less dangerous that it probably was. Sam eyed the lot full of glass for a moment before deciding that whatever had just happened was bad enough and he didn't plan on waiting around for the next bad thing. He was leaving. Bolivia could sell the car to whoever he wanted for five thousand because he wasn't going to argue with him.

The Camaro so wasn't worth all the trouble that was going on. Besides if worst came to worst he'd could always ask Miles to take him to one of the out of town dealerships. He was sure that his friend wouldn't mind so long as lunch at a restaurant was thrown in. Bending down Sam opened his arms so that he could pick Clover up, he didn't want to risk getting glass stuck in her paws. Once the Espeon was settled in his arms he began to walk away his shoes making crunching noises as he walked across broken glass.

"Hey kid! Wait a sec!" Sam stopped as Bolivia's panicked voice and footsteps reached him. Turning so that he was facing the man Sam raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Look the cars yours for four thousand so long as you get it off the lot today."

Sam blinked and closed his eyes. The panic and fear rolling off the man before him was almost enough to make him say no. It was the feeling of need that came off of Clover however that changed his mind because apparently she was set on him getting the Camaro for whatever reason and while Sam didn't understand the feeling he found that some part of him felt the same way. It was almost like he just had to have the Camaro.

The feeling went beyond his like of the car and the fact that it was not only comfortable for him but for the pokémon that would be riding in it with him because if Clover, picky as she could be at times, thought it was comfortable them it was more than likely that his other pokémon would find it the same way. Offering Bolivia his hand Sam spoke: "Fine. I'll take it."

000000000

Teams

Lennox's Team

Houndoom- Sidney

Epps's Team

Zangoose- Yankee

Mikaela's Team

Lopunny- Venus

Sam's Team

Riolu- Orion

Arcanine- Mojo

Espeon- Clover

Miles's Team

Ambipom- Delaney

Simisage - Elvis


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The streets of Washington D.C were crowded with people. A mixture of tourists, pedestrians, government officials, and people trying to get to work. The last was the case for a woman who looked like she hadn't been up very long.

"Chu, rai rai." Maggie Madison turned so that she was looking at the disgruntled form of her Raichu. Sleeping in the bushes hadn't set very well with either of them but she was fairly sure that it had annoyed her Raichu more than it had her especially considering the fact that he'd been used as a pillow. Hiding from landlords looking for tenants that were crazy late on paying their rent wasn't an easy thing to do. Running fingers through her green streaked hair Maggie turned her attention to her current companion.

"I'm well aware that your not happy with me Sparky but if we don't hurry I'm going to be late." Maggie said her Australian accent clear. Sparky simply crossed his short arms and turned his head away sparks flying from the yellow circles on his cheeks and long lightning bolt tail lashing back and forth. Maggie rolled her eyes and continued to try and hail a taxi.

She was late enough as it was and with every passing moment her being fired became more likely than it had been the moment before. When a taxi finally pulled up to the curb where she was standing Maggie was only half relieved.

"Well get in." Maggie ordered as her eyes shifted to the still pouting Sparky. Sparky's tail lashed behind him once before he was jumping into the backseat followed closely by Maggie. Passengers inside the taxi pulled out into traffic and stopped.

"Twelve Hundred South Haynes Street. I'm in a crazy hurry." Maggie said to the driver. The man looked slightly amused and when he spoke it was with an accent that she couldn't place.

"Observe the traffic Miss Lady and note the time of day." he smiled into the rearview mirror. "I will make as rapid a progress as the gods allow." It was a polite answer that was more common in D.C. than in most other places she'd been. Politeness however wasn't going to get her to work any faster.

Taking a moment to scratch Sparky behind an ear Maggie reached for the purse that was on the Raichu's other side. Setting it on her lap and began digging for her cell phone. Upon finding it she pulled it from her bag and hit speed dial. The person she was calling was a far cry from a god but there was a good chance that he'd be of help.

ooo

Glen Whitman answered his desk phone. This sadly required him to put aside the wireless mouse that he'd been using for a task that was vastly different than his now frantic hiding of what was on his computer screen. Pushing the mouth full of half chewed Fruity Pebbles to his left cheek with his tongue Glen was thankful that no one was around to see him or even worse take a picture.

"Y'ello." he said into his phone. The voice that answered sounded half annoyed and half panicked.

ooo

"It's about time." Maggie snapped as she looked at the traffic out of the front window. A large assortment of various vehicles sat between her and where she needed to be. She'd seen Snorlax that moved faster.

"Glen it's me." Maggie glanced to the side to see that even Sparky looked slightly annoyed at the unmoving traffic as well. His face was an inch from the window nearest to him and he was sending the vehicle across from them a look that clearly stated that he blamed it for their current state of stillness. No one would ever say that he wasn't her pokémon.

"I'm in a crazy hurry and traffic blows. Can you patch me into Traffic Patrol." Shifting her phone between her ear and shoulder Maggie worked her laptops keyboard while waiting for Glen to reply.

ooo

"Again?" The fact that Maggie was late didn't surprise him at all. In fact more often than not it seemed like she was late for every thing. "You're always late. How'd you get a job at a think tank without knowing how to set an alarm clock?"

Glen said as he turned to look around his cubicle to be sure that he was alone. He was, almost. While there were no other humans present the two pokémon that were hovering a few inches from the floor had shifted their attention from were it had been to their trainer.

Bright pink and blue and looking like several ovals put together with added duckbills were Terabyte, his Porygon2, and Gigabyte, his Porygon-Z. The sight of the pair gave him another question.

"Don't you have a Porygon? Can't Kilobit help you with this?"

ooo

"_I don't have time for this_.' Maggie thought as she shifted slightly in her seat. "I wasn't oversleeping. I spent the night hiding in a bush with Sparky. I was hiding from my landlord because I owe that much rent. And as for Kilobit I don't think it'd be wise for me to have him out where the world can see him and I doubt that Sparky would appreciate the new appearance in such a small space. Besides Kilobit's not really meant for hacking he's meant for code." Maggie paused to take a breath before continuing.

"As you would well know considering I rescued him from you." Sadly enough it was true. She'd taken Kilobit from Glen to prevent it from becoming another super hacker to help her friend with games and whatever else his nerdy heart desired at that particular moment and she had no intention of giving him back anytime soon. In fact she was almost sure that Kilobit probably wouldn't ever be going back to the chubby hacker.

ooo

Finally swallowing the mass of Fruity Pebbles that had stayed in his cheek Glen hoped that their absence would help his feeling be conveyed better. "Don't do this to me Maggie." he almost begged. "They almost tracked us last time.

ooo

Maggie was ready to scream and she was half tempted too only there was the small fact that if she did she'd alert the cab driver that she was doing something not quite legal. Though by looking at him from where she sat she was almost sure that he had no interest in what was going on with his passenger.

"Glen stop eating your Fruity Pebbles and help me. If my brief isn't turned in by four I'm done and over with. And if I get fired I'm crashing at your place." Maggie's voice came out as an annoyed snarl. Sparky actually turned to look at her from where he was window gazing.

ooo

Usually Maggie being annoyed with him was enough to get him to do whatever she wanted him to do. Not this time however. This time he refused to be cowed by the blonde. "No. Not gonna happen. My Grandma doesn't like it when my game buddies come over. She'd freak if one tried to live with me and unlike in video games her weapons are real."

Having said his piece Glen took a moment to take a bite from his bowl of Fruity Pebbles. He was waiting for Maggie to get really mad at him and he was quite sure that she'd be yelling any second. Only she didn't yell. A sigh came over the phone before she resumed the conversation with him.

"_How about I have lunch with you all week_?" Glen straightened in his chair. Having lunch with Maggie might just get him somewhere with the rest of the worlds female population.

"You'll say my name and pretend I'm smooth." It wasn't a question but a condition. There was silence for a moment.

"_Yes_." Glen was almost positive that Maggie had just rolled her eyes.

"You'll introduce me should a cute friend or acquaintance walk by?" It was a question that time because he was sure that he was pushing his luck.

"_You want a pint of my blood too Glen? Yes, now patch me into traffic control_."

Glen was already typing away at his keyboard. "Get ready."

The words '**ROUTE TRAFFIC PREEMPTION SYSTUM TO REMOTE SERVER' **had appeared.

ooo

The Secretary of Defense looked out at the room full of analyzers and rubbed a hand across his face before looking down at his companion.

"I think we're getting a little to old for this don't you Auron?" The noise that left his companion was something between a bark and growl that conveyed laughter quite well. Keller chuckled as well sending a smile towards the being that had been one of his partners for years.

Though his black and blue fur had dulled with age his eyes were still a deep red. His legs were black up to his thigh were black stopped and blue started. The fur of his torso was mostly blue outlined in black except for his chest which was a creamy yellow color. Spikes of bone protruded from a spot on his chest and the backs of his black colored front paws. A pair of dewdrop shaped appendages hung from both sides of his head from behind his ears and a faded black mask covered his eyes.

He was a Lucario just past his prime and though age had dulled his senses a little he was still more than battle worthy. Auron stood tall besides his trainer as they walked out to the podium in front of the gathered analysts. Keller's eyes swept over the large group. So many of them were young barley in their twenties.

"They're so young." A man standing to his right leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"They're the top subject matter analysts sir. NSA's recruiting right out of high school these days." Keller nodded more to acknowledge what the man had told him than to thank him. Taking a deep breath Keller addressed the group in front of him his voice clear and loud.

"At zero nine hundred yesterday the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in western Qatar was attacked. There was no warning and insofar as we have been able to determine, there were no survivors." Murmurs filled the room with sound as the crowed before him reacted to the news. Many of the younger analysts turned to talk to their teams. Auron gave a soft whine at Keller's side. His maters distress could be felt clearly in the older man's aura.

Keller gave them a moment to absorb the information and quiet down. He had no desire to try and stop them from speaking, at least not yet. It didn't even take a minute for the slight chatter to die down and for everyone's attention to focus back on him.

"Post-assault analysis had determined that the objective was to hack our Military network. We're not sure what they were after but thanks to some quick thinking by the personal present, the attempt was stopped during the assault. Which means that they're going to try again." Keller paused for a few seconds so that what he was telling the crowd could be processed and so that should they start speaking again he wouldn't be interrupted. No one spoke.

"So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack and the only clue we have is this sound." The noise that sounded seconds after Keller's sentence had ended was an unearthly shriek. Murmurs broke out for a few seconds before the room went quiet again. Keller continued.

"That's the signal that hacked our network. NSA's working at full capacity to analyze it. So far they've been unsuccessful. We need your help to find out who did this." Keller leaned forward.

"You're all here because you're the best in you respected fields. This is voluntary. You don't have to be here." Keller nodded to his left where a door sat waiting to be used. "This is voluntary. If you don't want to be part of this then you need to leave now. No marks positive or negative will be left on your records. There are vehicles waiting outside to escort you back to your place of work."

It was dead silent in the room. Nobody moved and it seemed as if nobody was going to move. It was impressive in a way that none of them were going to leave. A small smile crossed Keller's lips.

"We're on a hair trigger here people. The president has already dispatched full battle groups to the Arabian Gulf and the Yellow Sea. This is as real as it gets." Keller turned to leave the podium only to stop and turn back. He looked out over the crowd for a moment before offering them a halfhearted good luck.

ooo

The desert wind whipped sand into the faces of the soldiers and child that had barley managed to escape Blackout's attack on their base. The group stood around the demolished form of a tank. Epps and Donnely stood close together studying the picture that was on the screen of the thermal imager that was in Epps's hands.

The image shown made no sense to either of the military men. For surrounding the shape that took up most of the picture was some sort of electrified aura that should have interfered with the beings own function but for whatever reason hadn't.

"Man I ain't never seen anything like this. It's like there's some kind of invisible force field around the exoskeleton." Epps said as he looked at the picture from a few different angles. Donnely snorted in amusement.

"There's no such thing as invisible force fields except in comic books. Right?" Nobody answered. Lennox walked over to the pair and pulled the imager out of Epps's hand so that he could take a look.

"We don't even have rumors about anything like this thing being in the works." Shaking his head he handed the imager back to Epps. There was silence for a moment before Fig spoke up.

"My momma had the 'gift' y'know? She saw things and I got the gene too. That thing that attacked us, I gotta feeling that it ain't over." Several gazes fixed on the Spanish man and more than a few heads shook.

"How about you use those magic voodoo powers to get us the hell out of here." Donnely said as he cleaned a smear off of his glasses. The lenses catching the sun for a moment as he moved to put them back on. Fig shot the smaller man a look and half rose from where he'd been cleaning his weapon. Lennox moved in-between the pair before they even had a chance to start a fight. Now wasn't the time for such things.

The two of them could battle it out later either with fists or with pokémon. They had other things to do first.

"Don't start. You two can duke it out later. After we get things figured out." The two men backed down rather reluctantly.

"When I took that picture I think it saw me." Heads turned towards Epps. He was staring up into the sky as if remembering the moment. "I mean it looked right at me." Epps shivered at the memory despite the heat around him. Lennox spoke sounding grave.

"If that thing did see you take it picture then that means that it's defiantly not over yet. That thing came in camouflaged and it destroyed everything. That thing doesn't want anyone knowing that it here. We need to get this picture to the Pentagon as fast as we can." Lennox turned to Epps.

"Have you tried sending it electronically again?" he asked. Epps nodded.

"Ya but it was a no go. We're in one big dead zone. Nothing electronic coming in or going out. No satellite either. Hell, we're lucky that our pokéballs still work. Once we get closer to Qatar City I should be able to grab a Wi-Fi signal and send it. Until then were carrier Pidgey."

Lennox made a face. They needed a way to get to Qatar City faster. There were one or two among them that had pokémon big enough to fide but they hadn't been trained for it. And so far as he knew only him and Epps had trained flying pokémon. They were short on weapons too not counting their pokémon of course.

And he still wasn't too sure if their pokémon would be affective against whatever they were up against. Though he supposed that electric types might do good against it. It was a theory that he'd let them in one once they were moving again.

"We need to get moving." Lennox said and turned to Mahfouz. The kid had been listening to them talk. "Hey Mahfouz how far do you live from here?" The youngster pushed hair out of his eye's before turning and pointing.

"Just over the next hill." Lennox nodded. And turned to his men.

"All right men. Lets get going. I want a five meter spread. Keep a look out for anything metal." Lennox paused as if realizing something. "We need scouts in the sky fellows. Whose willing?"

His men looked at him for a moment before Epps, Fig and Salani pulled balls from their belts. Lennox nodded while reaching for his own belt. It was likely that none of the others had flying types. That or they didn't want to risk them should the thing they'd fought against at the base return. Six beams of red light filled the air.

Six pokémon hovered in the air before him. Blue on top and red of the bottom the eagle like form of his Braviary, Valiant fixed him with a gaze from dark eyes.

The silver form of Epps's Skarmory, Storm shined brightly metallic feathers reflecting the suns rays. Lennox frowned slightly.

Fig had just released half of his team but it was the man's choice and not his. There was the fat crow like form of Metzli, his Honchkrow, The odd form of Aztec, a Xatu, stared straight ahead as if seeing something that they couldn't, Lennox wasn't sure if should've been worried or not. And last from Fig's team was the half bird half reptile form of Quetzal, an Archeops.

The only one among the group that wasn't actually a bird or half bird in Quetzal's case was the large dragonfly like form of Salani's Yanmega.

As far as Lennox knew he had all of their attention. It was hard to tell with Aztec but he seemed to be listening.

"All right I need you guys to fly above us and watch out for anything shiny." A sharp and slightly joyful cawing sound came from the large form of Metzli. Fig shook his head at his pokémon.

"No its not something that you can keep. We're looking for an enemy that's made of metal." Metzli cawed at her trainer and puffed up her chest clearly annoyed by the lack of getting something shiny. Lennox shook his head before making a motion with his arm. All but one of the pokémon took off. All of the military men eyes Aztec as if they weren't sure what to do. Fig blushed slightly and shook his head.

"Well get going Aztec. We need your help too." Aztec turned it's head so that it was looking at it's trainer before turning it slightly. It blinked once and then took off to join the others in the sky. That small oddity being done and over with Lennox turned and looked at his men and Mahfouz.

"Lets get going."

ooo

The TV in their kitchen had her complete and total attention and so did the man that was currently on the screen speaking.

"At this time we can't confirm if there were any survivors but our prayers are with the families of the brave men and women stationed at SOCCENT Forward." The man speaking paused so that reporter that sat off screen could catch up on their not taking. Half a minute later he resumed speaking.

"Given the seriousness of this ugly and unprovoked attack, the gravity of the offense, and the casualties apparently suffered, the president and the Congress have concurred with the Joint Chiefs that all American bases domestic and worldwide should now go to DEFCON Delta, our highest level of military readiness." The speakers words held no comfort for Sarah Lennox. Because as far as she knew her husband was dead.

Killed in an attack on the base where he'd been stationed at for far too long. It seemed unfair that an attack should happen just weeks before her husband was scheduled to come home. Fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall Sarah turned towards the highchair that was holding her daughter. As if sensing her mothers distress the baby started crying.

Sarah sniffed, stood, and pulled Annabelle out of her chair and carried her around the room in a vain attempt to calm the baby.

"Daddy's okay. Shhh. Daddy's okay. " She said this over and over in a vain attempt to make herself believe it.

ooo

The Morning Star Pokémon Preserve wasn't huge as preserves of any sort went. Just a few hundred acres of land that was mostly forest, a single river, three lakes, and an unnumbered amount of ponds. The land had belonged to the Taylor family since forever and at least one member of the family always lived in the a house on the land.

The family, though not very large, was well known in their part of the country for people had spread rumors about a family that could see into the hearts of both people and pokémon. Though they seemed to specialize more in reading pokémon. Many believed that they had been blessed by Arceus and through him they were given their powers, though it was never proven. Some even said that the family was involved in magic.

No one knew why or how they could do what they did. What people at the time hadn't known was that the Taylor's were empaths for at the time the rumors spread there hadn't been any sort of classification for psychics. They used the land for many years as a place of healing for both human and pokémon alike.

Unfortunately there was an attack on the family by a group of men that were searching for something the Taylor's were said to guard. What they were looking for remains unknown. Sadly after the attack on the family they closed their doors to any who came seeking healing, only caring for the wild pokémon that lived on their land.

Sometime a couple hundred years later one of the Taylor's had their land turned into a preserve for abandoned, abused, and injured pokémon. The land once again became a place for pokémon to heal in body, mind, and on more than one occasion heart.

Then sometime in the past seventy years one of the Taylor's, a child it is said, decided to get into the business of taking in unwanted pokémon eggs from breeders and keeping them until they hatched. After hatching the baby pokémon would be taken care of until they were old enough to battle (two to three months) and then a home would be found for them and if one couldn't be found then they stayed at the preserve.

The preserve is still used for the purpose of nurturing and healing though the responsibility has fallen to one who is only a Taylor by blood and not by name. He has however taken up the responsibility that has ran in one side of his family for hundreds and hundreds of years and he is doing it alone.

Well mostly alone.

ooo

Music Sam had found out when he was younger than he could now remember was a great escape and it didn't hurt that the various pokémon that he cared for loved listening to music as well. Letting the various baby pokémon play with the old radio that sat on the kitchen floor was also a great distraction even if it didn't work.

Not that they knew that because so long as there was music (coming from speakers hidden in top of shelves) they were happy. It also gave them something to do other than get under his feet or chew on whatever part of his shoes and pants they could. He had enough trouble not tripping over his own feet without them there for him to trip over. And while they had the whole living room and their nursery to play in along with a fenced in area outside that could be easily gotten to by way of doggie door they seemed to insist on playing in what ever room he was currently in. Sam supposed that he could have put a stop to it if he really wanted to but he had to admit that he enjoyed the company.

Besides the kitchen was large and the only real furniture other than counters and appliances was the small four person table that sat by one of the many windows that filled the room with light. The emotions rolling off of the baby pokémon were light and happy and unlike the emotions of people, especially large groups, they didn't give him headaches.

In fact no matter how many pokémon there were around him he never seemed to have any form of head related ache unless one of the pokémon that was near him was injured. Taking care of the baby pokémon that hatched from eggs given to him by various breeders was only one of his responsibilities. He also had to keep up the marked off area that was the houses yard and he had to take care of the pokémon that came in for rehab both emotional and physical. He currently had five pokémon in the building that sat at the back of the houses yard.

The building was large and meant to hold pokémon that were injured or weren't ready to be around others yet. In fact his next planned stop was that very building. But first he needed to finish the food that he was making. While it wasn't dinner time yet, and wouldn't be for awhile, he'd learned at a young age to get as much as he could finished before hand. Fixing pokémon food when he had the time in his fairly busy home schedule helped make sure that he didn't run out even though most of his day Sunday was spent making enough food to last for the week.

While the older pokémon that he'd put food out for or the one's in rehab were more than happy to eat the food that came from PokéMarts (though he tended to add other ingredients to it to make it better for the pokémon), baby pokémon needed more nutrition and tended to be a lot pickier. It was best to make their food up until they were old enough to go out and eat on their own with him providing the basics when needed or until they were adopted by someone.

The fourteen baby pokémon running around the kitchen were only a slight distraction so long as they were occupied. Orion was the only one that hadn't joined in the fight over what they were going to listen to (or so the babies thought) and that was only because the newly hatched Riolu hadn't gotten the hang of moving around yet.

It'd take about a week for the little dog to get moving on all fours down and a few more days after that to get moving on two feet down. It was a process that was amusing to watch more often than not. Even if he had mastered the finer points of moving on all fours it was likely that he'd end up pushed away or accidentally hurt by the older pokémon.

The only pokémon that was even near his age was three weeks old and even then it wouldn't have been wise of him to try and play with her. The pokémon closest in age to Orion was Yin a baby Mienfoo and at three weeks old she was already a force to be reckoned with. Nearing two feet in height Yin was built much like Orion with arms and legs built for fighting.

The only difference that would stay was the fact that she was a different breed and had a different look. Yin had pink legs and arms and had a single pink stripe running from arm to arm and on the tip of her tail while the rest of her was a light yellow. Not only that but she looked like a mixture of what might have been a bear and a cat with cat like limbs and an almost bear shaped head. Sam pitied that family that was coming to get her when she reached three months old. She was stubborn and willful. A fighting type if he'd ever seen one.

So of course Orion being not even a day old wouldn't stand a chance against Yin when it came to rough housing. Rough housing however seemed to be the last thing on Orion's mind anyways for at the moment he was sitting on the floor chewing on a terry cloth toy. Shaking his head a the commotion going on behind him Sam turned back to the various berries and other ingredients that sat on the counter in front of him.

While the baby pokémon and those recovering in rehab were fed three times a day (twice by him and once by helper pokémon when he wasn't at home) it was wise to have extra food in case they were still hungry after they'd been feed. It wasn't a good idea to over feed but a little bit more food on occasion was very much appreciated by the pokémon he cared for and it tended to make them easier to live with as well. At that moment he was mixing Chople Berries with Miltank milk and flour and as nasty as if looked and sounded for whatever reason the fighting types loved it.

He had just a few more steps to go and then he'd be done with the food he was making. After he was finished he had other things that needed to be done. Pokémon to be looked over and a couple of rounds of physical therapy to administer.

Then of course after that it would be dinner time for the pokémon and then he'd have to put the babies to bed and he had homework to finish. The sound of Mojo's barking drew his attention to the window in front of him. Mojo was barking at his car again. Sam shook his head in amusement. The first thing Mojo had done when he'd been let out of his pokéball earlier had been growl at the car and walk away. He had wondered at first if perhaps there was something about the car that made Mojo nervous but he'd come to realize that Mojo wasn't worried about the car.

No, judging by the looks that he was sending it's way he seemed more jealous than worried. Leaning forward Sam rapped his knuckles on the window in order to get Mojo's attention. The Arcanine looked between him and the car a few times before trotting in his direction. Sam pushed the window open with one hand.

"Would you stop that Mojo? It's just a car it's not going to take your place. If it makes you feel any better we'll go for a run after dinner." Mojo fixed Sam with a stare for a moment as if trying to decide if the deal was worth it or not. Just when Sam was about to turn back to the food he'd been preparing a bark sounded. Looking back up Sam smiled.

"Well I'm glad you agree now go do something other than bark at the car." With a wag of his far too bushy tail Mojo turned and ran around the side of the house. Sam snorted. Then brown eyes landed on the car that was sitting in front of the house. The car he hadn't been so sure he'd wanted but had gotten anyways.

The sense of importance both he and Clover had felt about the car had faded as soon as he'd shaken Bolivia's hand and had yet to return. And while Sam didn't know why he'd felt such a need he did know something else. Sometime over the coming weekend when he had the free time he was going to wash the Camaro. It was a nice enough looking car but Sam knew that it'd probably look a lot nicer when it was clean.

That and he was kinda weary about letting some of his younger pokémon crawl around inside when he wasn't sure about how clean the interior really was. He was going to have a busy weekend that was for sure. Sam was just about to get back to cooking when his phone rang from its place on the kitchen table.

"Damn." Sam cursed as he hurried to wash and dry his hands as well as reach his phone before it stopped ringing. After accomplishing both tasks he picked up the phone and hit 'talk'.

"_Sam_!" Miles overly cheerful voice invaded Sam's ear causing him to cringe at the loud tone.

"Hey Miles. What do you want, man? I'm busy." Miles snorted over the phone.

"_You're always busy. So did you find a car_?" Sam's eyes drifted out towards the vehicle sitting in his yard.

"Ya. Why?" he asked.

"_Because we're going to a party at the lake and I want to see it_." Sam groaned. Even though Miles knew that large crowds of people made his head hurt he still insisted on taking Sam with him when ever he went somewhere to have fun.

"You're determined to make me suffer a headache tonight aren't you?"

"_Stop complaining bro. It's just a little party at the Lake. You need to get out and have fun. You work too much_." Shaking his head Sam cradled his phone against his ear and made his way back towards the food that was waiting to be cooked.

"Of course I work too much because unlike you I have responsibilities that exceed being able to pay for car insurance and games. I have two rehab sessions to do after I'm finished in the kitchen and then…." Miles cut him off.

"_Then it's dinner time and so on and so forth. I know better than that bro. The rehab I can wait for but you have like eight pokémon there that help you with the stuff you have to do and I know damn well that they can take care of the babies and the other pokémon for five or six hours while you go out_."

What Miles had said was true enough. There were several pokémon around the preserve that helped him out with the things he had to do everyday. In fact it was a pair of mated Kenhorou that took care of the baby pokémon that were old enough to be away from him all day. Not that it was a hard job. In fact all they really had to do was be sure that the little ones were fed lunch and that none of them were hurt while playing.

Three others feed the rehab pokémon and filled the troughs that sat around the yard for some of the pokémon to eat from if they weren't able to get their own lunch. Sighing in annoyance at his friends logic Sam found that he didn't actually have much of a reason to refuse other than the looming headache he was going to leave the party with.

"Fine. I'll do it. Is it safe for me to assume that I'm picking you up by your earlier statement?" Sam asked.

"_Yup. Besides I think my mom wants you over for dinner_."

Sam couldn't help but smile at that. Miles's mom was as dear to him as his own mother had been before she and his dad had died. The woman worried about him constantly from what he'd been told and she was always willing to invite him over for dinner. It didn't hurt that she was an awesome cook too.

"Well I'm not about to pass up your mom's cooking so I guess I'll be over in about an hour and a half." Miles voice sounded triumphant when he next spoke.

"_Good. I'll let her know. Oh, and bring Orion. I told mom about him and she wants to see him_." Sam shook his head a fond smile crossing his face.

"Of course. I'll see you in a little while. Bye Miles."

"_See you bro_."

With their goodbyes said both boys hung up the phone. Putting his phone down and reaching for a dish towel Sam made his way out of the kitchen and towards the nursery that. If anywhere the first ones he needed to tell about his plans were there. He had pokémon to track down and work to finish before he could even think about going any where and the sooner he was done the happier Miles would be.

ooo

The lake as Sam had expected was crowded with people taking the chance to enjoy the last few weeks of summer before it got to cold to swim. Sam ran slightly nervous eyes across the crowds of people, he could already feel the headache beginning to form.

"Over there." Miles said as he pointed to a section of the lake that seemed to be swarming with teenagers from their school. Sam blinked.

"Is this party even open to everybody or did we need to be invited?" Sam asked as he looked for a place to park. Miles merely shrugged from the front seat.

"I have no idea. I just heard about it through the grape vine and thought it's be fun." Sam eyed the group of teens again. From the ones he could see and the pokémon that were out he was able to come to a fairly quick conclusion.

"Miles I think this is a popular kid party." Miles shrugged.

"So that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the lake. And look bro Mikaela's here." Miles pointed out his window.

He was pointing towards the lithe form of the blue eyed brunette Mikaela Banes. Whom at one time Sam had had a huge crush on. Miles still took great joy in reminding him about it whenever the chance presented itself. Thankfully for Sam and much to Miles disappointment the opportunity didn't come very often. Of course that was mostly because the only time Sam and Miles saw each other at school was in-between classes, at lunch, and in sixth period.

"I can see that she's here Miles." Sam said as he watched Mikaela scratched her Typhlosion, Adair, behind the ears. A small amount of desire welled up within him and was quickly pushed down. He'd given up on Mikaela Banes a long time ago and he had no real desire to date her anymore even if there were still those rare moments when the want popped up again.

She was like him in a way. She had things that people didn't know about her just like he did. Though the things people didn't know about him were mostly because no one bothered to ask. Mikaela, for whatever reason, hid things from people. Sam didn't know what but he knew that she was hiding things about herself.

Probably things that would affect her social status. Sam turned his gave away from Mikaela just in time to see an open place to park. Miles had been right about them being able to enjoy the lake for what it was even though there were three on the preserve. Sam knew that it was Miles way of trying to make him socialize.

"Well now what?" Sam asked as he pulled the keys from the ignition and reached for the handle on his door. Miles shrugged as he stepped out of the car. There was always plenty to do at the lake and even if the more popular kids didn't want them anywhere near them there were always a few of the nicer less popular kids hanging around.

"Lets wander a bit and see if we can find someone we can stand. Or maybe an empty area where we can let our pokémon roam about a bit. I think Mason would appreciate that chance to swim in waters that he doesn't get to see often." Sam thought about it for a moment before nodding. It was as good a plan as any. The sound of slamming doors followed Sam and Miles as they made their way towards the lake.

Sadly this seemed to bring them into the view of the popular kids. This included the unwanted gaze of Trent DeMarco who was quick to continue his usual taunting. This time of course it was about his car because Trent apparently wasn't one to pass up the chance to tease Sam about anything he was able to.

"Hey, bro! Sorry about your Grandma. She died and left you that car right?" Loud snickers followed Trent's comment about his car. Trent's pack of goons laughing even though what he'd said hadn't actually been all that funny. The only one who didn't laugh was Mikaela. Sam looked at the bigger teen for a moment before answering.

"Your about fourteen years off. My grandma died when I was two." The comment back wasn't meant to be smart but apparently Trent thought it was because he took a threatening step closer to Sam. And Miles as if sensing the incoming danger took a few steps back at the bigger boys approach leaving Sam to stand his ground by himself.

Sam stood still trying for the life of him to figure out which emotions that were running through his head belonged to Trent. It took him a moment to realize that it didn't matter because none of the emotions he was picking up on seemed violent. That meant that it was safe for him to stand up to Trent because the other teen was actually less likely to beat the crap out of him with so many people near. When at school he'd get suspended.

If he did it here and got caught then chances were someone would call the cops. Trent sneered as he stopped in front of Sam daring the smaller boy to move. Sam stood his ground. Sam was many things. A coward however wasn't one of them. He knew when it was safe to stand and when it was better to leave. Besides he'd faced things worse than Trent in his life and had come out in one piece.

"So what brings you here Wickity? Hoping that crashing a party might get you another friend?" Sam felt his eye twitch. Insults about his cloths were fine and insults about his car were a little less fine but no one insulted Miles and got away with it. At least not when he was within hearing range.

"Why do you care Trent? You worried that you might loose a Mankey or two?" Trent growled and took a step forward obviously about to beat the boy in front of him into a bloody pulp. Only Mikaela was there to stop him. Blue eyes stared up at her boyfriend.

"Stop it." She said. As if to give his trainer backup Adair stood behind her sending both Trent and Sam a look that promised bodily harm. Sam was fairly sure that the pokémon would do it to. It didn't matter if Mikaela was primarily a coordinator he'd seen her pokémon battle and they were nothing to laugh at.

Trent looked like he was going to go for one of the expensive looking pokéballs on his belt before he backed up a step and turned and made his way back towards his Escalade. He swung the door open and turned to look at Mikaela.

"Lets get out of here. Stupid lake's full of rugrats. I know where there's a raging frat party." he said as his attention turned back towards Mikaela. "Lets go."

Mikaela crossed her arms and gave him a flat look. "I'm not your dog you know. You can't just load me up whenever you want." she snapped. Several of Trent's friends let out mocking 'oohhs' as they stared. Trent growled at her response.

"You're not being funny. Now get in." Mikaela fixed Trent with a glare. Adair actually growled at the teen flames springing to life on its back. Should the need arise Adair was more than ready to defend his trainer from Trent.

Trent seemed to realize this as well because he climbed in his Escalade and slammed the door shut. His voice carried out of the window when he next spoke.

"You want to stay here them fine. Good luck getting a ride home."

"Don't worry about it. I'm leaving." Mikaela's voice lashed out like a whip and before anyone could respond she turned and walked away Adair following. Silence followed her exit.

"Well that was unexpected." Sam jumped at the voice that had suddenly sounded from nowhere. Turning he found that Miles had returned.

"Where the hell did you go?" Sam asked as he stared at his friend. Miles gave him a grin and a shrug.

"I was avoiding the fight that I was sure would break out between you and Trent."

"We didn't fight. Not even a battle thanks to Mikaela."

"I noticed," Miles said, "So was she actually standing up for you?"

Sam shook his head. "No at least I don't think she was. She just didn't want to see a fight break out. Let's get out of here before Trent tries to run us over or something."

Miles nodded and the pair began walking towards another part of the lake.

"You could offer her a ride home." Miles suggested.

"I'm not sure she'd take it besides if I did that then you wouldn't have a ride." The pair stared at each other for a moment neither one saying anything.

"I could always swipe Mojo and ride home on him."

"You can't stay on a bike for more than three minutes without falling what makes you think you could stay on Mojo for more than fifteen seconds."

"What makes you think he'd throw me?" Miles asked. Sam snorted.

"How about the fact that he's not broken dumb ass. He's perfectly fine with me riding him but every other person who's ever tried to ride him without me on his back to has been thrown."

"Well let him out and tell him not too. He'll listen to you." Sam scrubbed his hand across his face. Miles didn't seem to get that Mojo wouldn't let Miles ride him for one reason and one reason only.

"Miles you'd sit on his back then I'd leave and that'd be it. You be thrown before I could get a hundred feet away and after Mojo'd thrown you he'd be chasing after me. I don't leave his sight if we're out together you know that."

Miles knew that Sam was right of course. Mojo would throw him and chase after his trainer. Mojo didn't listen to anyone but Sam and heaven forbid if Sam was in trouble when the Arcanine was out of his pokéball. Miles sighed.

"You're right dude. I just figured that if you gave her a ride home you might have half a chance." Sam shook his head.

"I'm not giving her a ride and leaving you here. I will however give her a ride if you come with me." It was the only way to get Sam to even try.

"Sure lets go get her. I'll even sit in the back seat." With that said the pair made their way back towards Sam's car.

ooo

As it turned out Mikaela was more than willing to take the offered ride. Though she didn't seem very happy but considering the fact that she'd just broken up with the jerk that was her boyfriend it didn't really surprise either of them. Though her continuing rant was slightly annoying.

"I can't believe I'm here right now."

"You can duck down if you want to. We won't mind." Sam said as he focused on the road in front of him. His eyes only straying towards the rearview mirror in order to check on Miles.

"Sure we won't." The blonde said his voice slightly irritated. Sam shot his friend a look that said "It was your idea so shut up and live with it". Miles simply made a face and crossed her arms. Mikaela glanced at him.

"No it's not you I'm talking about. I'm talking about this same situation that I'm always in. I don't know I just seem to have this weakness for hot guys. For tight abs and muscles." It was one of those moments that made him, and probably Miles, feel knee high to a caterpillar.

"That's some weakness." Sam mumbled.

"Sure is." Miles muttered under his breath so that just Sam could hear him. Even though he had agreed to join Sam it appeared the he was quickly rethinking his decision. Or maybe he didn't like listening to people bitch and moan.

"I'm so sick of this place." Mikaela rambled on as if neither Sam nor Miles were there. Miles leaned forward in his seat so that he could be more easily heard.

"I regret to inform you that I wish I hadn't suggested this." Sam rolled his eyes. His voice just as quiet as Miles had been. Though both of them were sure that they could have been talking in a normal voice and Mikaela wouldn't have noticed.

"She's not trying to be rude. She's frustrated and upset and she's venting. She doesn't have anything against us personally. We're just the unlucky one's who happened to be near when she had her meltdown. Besides if it hadn't been us it'd have been someone else. Just sit back and be quiet until she finishes."

Miles grumbled but nodded and leaned back in his seat. Sam shook his head at the annoyance rolling off of Miles and the frustration rolling off of Mikaela. It wasn't enough to give him a headache but it was enough to get on his nerves.

" 'Cause there had seriously better be more to life than this." Mikaela stopped speaking and turned to look at Sam and Miles as if just realizing that the pair were still in the car. A weak blush spread across her cheeks.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I guess I just needed to vent." Sam's eyes flicked in her direction.

"It's okay. Everyone needs to sometimes." Miles nodded even though he still looked annoyed. The sunset as the group of teens drove towards town chatting lightly. It was true that the talk could have been a bit more stimulating but none of them were willing to cross lines with people that they didn't know anything about.

Though Miles tried a few times just to try and annoy Mikaela. Each of his attempts was thwarted by Sam however who was a master of getting Miles attention. It came with having the blonde as a best friend. When they entered town Sam noticed that either he, his car, or Mikaela were getting looks from people on the street. It seemed likely that it was a mixture of all three.

Mikaela was in fact in his car. Most of the looks they received were curious and some showed amusement while a few showed open distain. None of them bothered Sam and he doubted that Miles could see the looks that were being sent their way because the blonde seemed to be preoccupied with something in his hands.

Sam was fairly sure that he was fiddling with his phone though he couldn't be sure. It didn't really matter anyways because the other boy wouldn't have cared for the looks they were receiving anyways. Following Mikaela's directions to her house Sam had half expected the house they were going to too be half as spectacular as the one occupant he knew, just because his crush had died didn't mean that he didn't think Mikaela was good looking, however both he and Miles were a little shocked when Mikaela pointed Sam in the direction of the dumpy part of town.

It wasn't bad enough to be considered the slums. It was just that the houses looked sort of beaten down and tired looking. Like something that'd been left in the sun and rain for too long. Mikaela pointed him to a house that was just as unspectacular as the next to it. Mikaela turned towards him as he pulled to a stop.

"So thanks for the ride home," she paused and turned to look at Miles, "And thanks for letting me vent."

"You're welcome." Sam said. Miles nodded and mumbles a "sure" under his breath. Mikaela opened her door and started to climb out but stopped halfway. She turned back so that she was looking at Sam and Miles again.

"You guys think I'm shallow don't you?" Sam eyes Miles for a moment before answering.

"You're not shallow. There's just more to you than there seems to be."

"You hide too much." Sam turned towards at Miles with a questioning look on his face while Mikaela offered the pair a slight smile before she walked off. Miles moved to the front seat and slammed the door shut. Sam looked at his friend for a moment before asking his question.

"Do you still think she's an evil jock concubine?" Miles thought about it for a moment before answering.

"She not too bad I'll admit but she could be a lot better."

"True." Sam said as he started the car. "But we all hide things and she's worked very hard to hide her current living arrangements from people. You can't hate her for wanting to be popular."

"I can try." Sam laughed and shook his head.

"You're better than that Miles. Give her a chance if she ever talks to us again. You never know what'll happen. Who knows maybe she'll introduce you to Lindsey."

It was Miles turn to blush at the mention of the girl he had a crush on. Said girl was actually one of Mikaela's friends.

"Who knows? Maybe both of us'll get lucky." Miles said as he put his seatbelt on. Sam turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life barley a second later.

"Let's go see what your mom made for dinner."

ooo

Maggie was sure that she'd listened to the shrieking signal a thousand times already and she still had no idea where it had come from. Not even Kilobit, her Porygon, was any help with the conundrum that plagued her and all of the other analysts that filled the large room full of computers. So far none of the groups were having any luck and not even the large number of Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z that were being used to help were helping.

Even the virtual pokémon didn't seem to know what to think or do about the signal and that was very disheartening considering that each one was practically a supercomputer. Frustrated Maggie pulled the headphones she'd been wearing off. It was time to take a break. Sadly her break was very short lived for the moment her headphones touched the desk in front of her another analyst decided the it was the perfect chance to ask her a question.

"What do you think? Encrypted Mandarin or Amharic maybe?. It could be some sort of obscure African language." With half her mind still on the signal she used whatever was working of the other half to answer.

"This is nothing like any African derived dialect. It's not like anything the Chinese have been using either. Whatever this is it's in a class of its own." Much to the disappointment of the man who asked the question Maggie slid her headphones back over her ears and got back to work. He'd been hoping to ask her out to dinner and maybe a drink afterwards.

It didn't look like it was going to happen as Maggie replayed the signal for the thousandth or maybe two thousandth time.

ooo

A different kind of shrieking was coming from the engines of the 747 that was Air Force One. The sound of the engines didn't bother any of the occupants on board the large plane let alone the staff sergeant that was walking towards a door towards the back of the plane. A pair of secret service agents stood on either side of the door and after exchanging a few words with one of the men she was allowed access to the room.

"Yes, Mr. President?" she said as a way to announce that she was there. The pair of stocking covered feet and the Grumpig that lay curled up by them were a sight that she was growing more familiar with each time she was called back to the President's stateroom. The owner of said stockings didn't bother looking up from the file that he was currently reading.

"Can you wrangle me up some Ding Dong's and a glass of milk?"

"Right away sir." she said as she turned and walked away from the room. She waited until she was a considerable distance away from the presidents room before rolling her eyes and muttering something under her breath. What she muttered under her breath might have been something about an old school or it might have been something about the president and his Ding Dong's. She continued to mutter to herself as she passed the cabin that house the rest of the members of the Secret Service.

Within the cabin other agents were busy working or catching up on sleep. Therefore it made sense that no one had noticed the boom box sitting beneath one of the chairs. It also made sense that because they were so busy or asleep that no one noticed as the boom box began to shift and change or when it sprouted arms, les, and a head.

All of the appendages were silver in color and spindly looking. Frenzy crouched so as to remain unseen and glanced around the room that he was currently in. Upon finding that the attention of the rooms various organics and the sleeping pet like creatures that a few of them seemed to have were occupied he proceeded to scurry out of the room and towards another part of the plane.

Towards the middle of the plane the staff sergeant stood taking to a few of the other presidential aids.

"Yesterday it was Ho Ho's and today its Ding Dong's. What's tomorrow hold for us ladies?" she shook her head, "I didn't join Air Force One to do this." Her coworkers laughed accordingly.

"If anyone needs me I'll be down in storage." A tiny elevator took her down to storage. The room was lit with pale lights and the floors echoed a metallic twang slightly as she walked. The whole area was full of shelves, cabinets, and freezers.

The only thing that seemed out of place was a fenced in area at one end that was filled with the planes mainframe. The whole place was a maze to someone who didn't know it. Thankfully for her she knew it quite well having been down many times in order to retrieve the various snacks that the President requested. Walking through a series of cabinets and storage freezers she came across the one she was looking for.

The door that opened reveled a large assortment of snack food including the desired Ding Dong's. Grabbing several she was preparing to leave when one toppled out of her hand and rolled underneath a nearby cabinet. Much to her relief the cake proceeded to roll right back out from underneath the cabinet. Stopping only to pick up the fallen cake the staff sergeant didn't see the figure that had kicked the Ding Dong back out into the open as she made her way back towards the elevator.

Only when he was sure that the elevator was gone did Frenzy move from his hiding place. The small Decepticon skittered through the underbelly of the plane until he came to the desired destination, a locked access panel labeled P.O.T.U.S only.

It took Frenzy only a second to rip the panel from it's place. Once gone an open terminal was revealed. The sound that issued from the small bot was one that Maggie Madison and many other would have recognized even though it was different than the one that had accompanied the assault in Qatar. The terminal winked to like almost of it's own accord. Only the small words scrolling across the screen gave any idea as to what was being done.

**CONNECTING TO PENTAGON SECURE NETWORK.**

ooo

Maggie found that she could only stare at the screen of her computer. After spending so long doing nothing other than listening to a signal she wasn't quite sure if what she was seeing was real or not. Maggie closed her eyes and opened them again to see if the words on her screen had disappeared.

They hadn't. Sitting upright in her chair as if she'd gotten a good shock from Sparky Maggie pressed her headphones even more tightly to her ears. Her attention was now firmly fixed on the words on her console.

**FORIEN SIGNAL DETECTED **

All boredom vanished and she was at that moment completely awake. Her fingers flew over her keyboard and Kilobit floated next to her head his eyes fixed on the same thing as Maggie's were. Both sound graphs appeared side by side and were followed almost immediately by a single word: MATCH.

Shooting up from her chair Maggie was yelling at the top of her voice before she was even aware of actually doing it. "They're hacking the network again!"

ooo

The shriek that sounded from Frenzy continued at an unbroken rate as the Decepticon continued to probe the P.O.T.U.S mainframe. The only thing that changed was the words that were running across the screen.

**SEARCHING SPECIAL ACCESS FILES **

The shriek that Frenzy emitted changed slightly as he probed deeper into the system desperately looking for something. It didn't take long for the file that the small robot was seeking to appear.

**PROJECT ICE MAN- TOP SECRET SCI- SECTOR SEVEN ACESS ONLY**.

ooo

Maggie typed furiously her fingers flying across the keyboard underneath them. The deputy director stood at her shoulder looking at her screen his expression grim. There were other gathered around them as well each one trying to see what was going on.

"Trace it." The deputy director commanded. Maggie was already ahead of him.

"I've been trying but every time I do I get locked out and then the it adapts and the firewall changes. I swear that whatever's doing this is learning." Kilobit gave a frustrated cry just as Maggie cursed. They'd been locked out again.

Maggie continued to pound away at her keyboard. Suddenly and without warning one of the screens at her console went nuts.

"Are you running a diagnostic?" Maggie asked the man next to her, the same man that had wanted to ask her out.

"No," he said, "Should I be?" Maggie shot the man a look that caused him to draw back.

"Yes, you should." Maggie growled before standing up from her seat. "Is anyone running a diagnostic!" Maggie's shout startled many of the people that were still sitting in front of their consoles.

A few even got up and walked over to the crowd that had gathered around her. Plopping down into her chair with far more force than was necessary Maggie's eyes widened in shock at what she saw before she turned towards the deputy director.

"You need to cut the hard lines now." The man gaped at her.

"I can't just do that." Maggie waved her hands at the computer screen as if she could reach inside and grab hold on the data.

"If you can't then find someone who can. I think they're planting a virus." Maggie paused and looked at her screen again. What she saw there shocked her.

"They're planting a virus and taking a lot of data at the same time. Nodding the man proceeded to yell into the headset that he was wearing.

"Cut all server hard lines now! We have a security breach!"

ooo

Words flashed across the screen faster than any human would have been able to read. The words however weren't going to fast for Frenzy to read. The virus had been uploaded and now all he needed was the information he sought. And he was about to get it. A face that had appeared the just hours before stared at him from the terminal's screen.

The face of Archibald Witwicky stared at the little alien even after all the lines that were connecting him to the system he was hacking were cut. Frustrated beyond belief and to the point of distraction frenzy failed to notice the area's newest occupants as he banged his silver head against the terminal's screen. Two men, one a secret service agent and the other a flight attendant walked slowly through the planes underbelly.

The blue form of a Vaporeon and the yellow and blue form of a Manectric followed slowly behind them. The pair of pokémon were tense and ready to attack.

They knew that something that didn't belong there or anywhere on the planet that they shared with their trainers was there and that it meant them harm. It was more than the broken lock laying on the floor that alerted them. Both men turned the corner that had been hiding Frenzy at the same time. Upon seeing Frenzy the secret service agent brought his wrist communicator up to his lips.

"Break in sector two. I repeat: break in sector two." As the sound of running feet came from the opposite direction Frenzy leapt into action. Hissing as he went Frenzy managed to spin around the two men as they advanced.

He didn't however manage to avoid the blast of water that hit him seconds later. Unfazed by the water that was now dripping from his frame Frenzy lunged at the creature that had hit him with the attack. Only to miss and go crashing to the floor as something else rammed into him.

This time however the attack on him worked. Frenzy shrieked as electricity flowed through his frame. Arms flailing wildly as the current running through his body died down Frenzy struck out with a clawed hand. The yelp that followed assured him that he had hit his target. Pulling back from the small creature that he'd just attacked the Manectric shook it's head back and forth blood dripping down it's muzzle where claws had torn the skin. Both pokémon were about to strike again when a pair of disks flew from Frenzy's chest.

Frenzy's targets however weren't the pokémon that had attacked him but the humans that were aiming guns at him. Both disks hit home. The men dropping to the floor blood dripping from wounds that were more than fatal. Both the Vaporeon and the Manectric seemed to lose interest in him the moment that the pair of humans hit the floor.

For instead of attacking the thing that their trainers had been after the pair moved towards the still bodies of the fallen humans, whining and pawing at the still forms. The agent that had been running to meet his comrades appeared at the other end and opened fire without hesitating. There were several soft pings a bullets bounced off of Frenzy's skeletal form and ricocheted off. The man cursed and put his gun away reaching for his belt instead. Frenzy took the moment of ceasefire to turn so that he was facing the man firing at him.

He was about to fire off another one of the deadly disks that he carried within his body but stopped as the man pulled a ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. When that red light that emerged faded Frenzy found that he was facing another one of those annoying creatures though this one was different than the other two that seemed to be mourning for the fallen humans. The new creature was of similar build but smaller than the others and of different colors.

"Houndour get it." The third man ordered. Though small and unevolved it didn't mean that the Houndour was weak. There was only a snarl before the dog surged towards Frenzy. It wasn't alone either for it seemed that the two grieving pokémon had realized that the thing that had killed their trainers was still there.

Faced with three enemies of unknown power and one of known Frenzy did the only thing he could. He fired a single disk at the being he knew he could kill before turning and running. The disk hit it's target dead on but by the time he hit the floor there was nothing else living still in the area for Frenzy and all three pokémon had ran off.

Metal feet pounded against the floor as Frenzy ran his pursuers much closer than he'd have preferred. Heat burned at his back for a moment before it faded and was replaced by another blast of water that knocked him off of his feet. The same creature that had pinned him down earlier was on top of him again though this time he was able to see the electricity crawling over its body before it surged through him.

Another shriek tore itself from his vocal processors before he managed to get his feet under the thing attacking him. Kicking with all his might Frenzy felt a certain amount of joy when his feet struck the best that was upon him in the ribs and sent it flying. It hit the ground several feet back with a thud and whined once before it went still. Scans indicated that it wasn't dead only unconscious but that was enough for the moment.

"Dour." The cry was the only warning Frenzy had before a jet of flame was launched his way. The flames were hot enough to hurt and should he end up trapped and unable to move he'd be in real trouble but as it was he was fully capable of moving.

Surging forward out of the spray of fire Frenzy skidded around a corner his body aching from the high heat that it had been assaulted with. Two sets of pounding paws were still behind him and he knew that if he didn't find a place to hide that the creature's chasing him would eventually bring him down. Thankfully for him his salvation came much sooner than he had expected in the form of cabinets.

The area between the cabinets wasn't very wide but he was skinny enough to fit. Slipping in between the gape between his chosen hiding place Frenzy felt triumph overtake him. His pursuers could do nothing but bark and cry at the space where he was hiding and as more humans filled the room and pulled them away from his hiding spot Frenzy pulled back into the shadows and waited. He had his lead now all he had to do was get the information to Barricade.

ooo

It was late and Sam was sure that he needed to go to bed but at that moment he had other things to worry about. Like the paper he had do on the mating rituals of dragon type pokémon. It was do on Monday and he hadn't even started his first draft. He had all the information he needed for the paper. All he had to do now was get the paper started.

He figured that he could do half of it now and then the other half tomorrow when everything else he had to do was done. Besides the small library like room that he was currently sitting in was a very good place to do work considering that that's what it was there for.

Large bookshelves covered two of the walls (one of which Mojo was curled up asleep in front of). The shelves were filled with books on pokémon; breeding, grooming, training, anatomy, as well as studies on elemental types and on certain pokémon species. There were even journals that had been written by past family members. Both on their lives and on what they had observed about the pokémon on the preserve. There were even a few shelves dedicated to regular just for fun reading books and, even though he avoided them like the plague, photo albums. And if for whatever reason he didn't have a book or journal that had the information he needed then there was always the internet or the library in Tranquility.

The wall with the door had several large curio cabinets resting against it. The cabinets were filled with various items from his mothers family history. Trophies, ribbons, badges, even old pokéballs were all displayed with pride. It was the objects in the center cabinet that were most important however. For sitting in the middle cabinet were what appeared to be glass figurines of legendary pokémon.

What the figurines were actually made of however Sam was unsure because each one had been made way before his time and was painstakingly detailed. The legendaries almost looked like they were about to come to life at any moment. There had been many a time when he was younger that he's watched them for hours convinced that they would move if he waited long enough. The figurines in the middle cabinet were the oldest things in the house and worth the most, at least in sentimental value.

The last wall had two large windows that over looked the front yard. Pictures of people and pokémon decorated the wall in-between them. Pictures of him and his family and their pokémon. There was one of him and Mojo when he'd been four and Mojo had still been a Growlithe. And there was one of his mom and dad with the grass types that helped take care of all the flowerbeds that his grandmother had planted. There was even a picture of his grandfather and grandmother and two of their pokémon. As well as one of his mother when she'd been young and Clover when she'd still been an Eevee.

The memories in the pictures were all good happy times. It was only sad when he thought about the events that the pictures captured. Happy moments with his family before they'd died and he'd been left with only the pokémon of the preserve and the Lancaster's to keep him company. And while there was plenty of room for more pictures none had been added in years.

Sam sighed and rubbed at his eyes. If he was smart he'd just write his whole first draft the next day but the same method that applied to making pokémon food applied to homework, at least in a way. The more he got done now the less he had to do and the less he had to worry about it not being done. All he really wanted to do at that moment was go to bed but he was determined to at least start before sleeping.

Starting wouldn't be too hard. He already had all the information he needed now all he had to do was figure out how to word it and write it down. Sadly it was the whole wording thing that tended to give him trouble because it never sounded as right on paper as it did in his head. Sam was fairly certain that he wasn't meant to be a writer of anything. Slumping back in his chair Sam sent a glare at the notebook in front of him before turning to glare at the laptop sitting about a foot away from it.

He was more then willing to steal someone else's essay just so he didn't have to write his but sadly his teacher checked for plagiarism and getting caught plagiarizing someone else's work meant an automatic fail for the one who done it. Failing anything was something that Sam tended to avoid doing at any cost.

Shaking his head Sam pushed his chair back and stood. If he was going to sit up half the night worrying about a paper then he was going to do it the right way. With lots of sugar and caffeine that was less than healthy for him but good anyways. That meant that it was time for a trip to the kitchen. Bare feet padding softly across the living room carpet Sam took a moment to glance at the closed door that lead to the nursery.

All the baby pokémon were asleep in their cages and would remain so until sometime the next morning. In fact Sam was pretty sure that other than him the only thing up at that moment were nocturnal pokémon.

The sound of Kricketot and Kricketune singing could be heard outside. It was a pleasant sound that was made all the better by the sound of actual crickets joining in. It had always amazed him the certain pokémon lived alongside the animals that were similar to them in peace considering that the lesser animal species (dogs, cats, live stock, ect) were often hunted and eaten by carnivorous pokémon because they were easier to kill.

There were rare cases where a pokémon or an animal would raise the baby's of the other species as if they were their own. The most well known case had been a race horse raising a Ponyta. Though the fact that both were herbivores probably made a big difference. The phenomenon of such things was actually what they were studying next in Biology 2. It was in fact his biology teacher that had assigned the paper over breeding rituals.

"Stupid teacher." Sam grumbled as he flipped on the light in the kitchen. The sudden change from carpet to wood was a slight shock to his cold feet but he ignored it as he walked towards the fridge. Pulling the door open revealed a wide assortment of foods and drinks though most of what was in the fridge was meant for pokémon food Sam did have a shelf and crisper that he used for his food and drinks.

Grabbing a Coke from its shelf Sam pondered about wither or not he wanted a sandwich to snack on. The idea faded when the desire for something sweet popped up. Closing the fridge Sam moved over to the cabinet that sat on the right side of the sink. He needed a cup for what he wanted. The cabinet creaked slightly as it was opened.

Glancing at the cups available to him Sam grabbed one of the glass cup's that Miles had gotten him from McDonalds the year before when they'd been selling them in commemoration of that years Ultimate Battle Frontier. The glass was one of his favorites. Smiling to himself Sam set about looking for the peanut butter and the half empty bag of chocolate chips that he was certain Trilly (the female Kenhorou) had hidden from him in an attempt to get him to eat something healthy when he felt like snacking.

The attempt proved futile for not three minutes after he started looking he found both desired items. Grin in place Sam was about to fix his snack only to stop. It was funny but he could have sworn that he'd heard the sound of an engine. Turning Sam moved so that he was looking out of one of the kitchen window's.

It was rare but on occasion he'd had late night visitors. The only car in view however was his Camaro and it wasn't going anywhere. Sam scratched the back of his head in confusion. Maybe he was just hearing things. It made sense in a way. It was late and he was tired and stressed so his brain was playing tricks on him.

"Loosing my mind." Sam said. Shrugging he walked away from the window and back towards the snack that was waiting to be fixed. He stopped only to grab a spoon out of the utensil drawer. Mixing peanut butter and chocolate chips didn't take very long.

Spoon held firmly between his teeth Sam began making his way back towards the library his drink in one hand and food in the other. He was met halfway through the living room by Mojo who he'd left sleeping in the library a few minutes before. Shifting things around in his hands so that he could take to spoon out of his mouth Sam gave Mojo a slightly concerned look.

"What's wrong Mojo?" he asked. Because there had to be something wrong. Mojo's whole body was tense and he looked like he was about to start barking which Sam really hoped he didn't because he'd wake up all the baby pokémon sleeping in the next room. The tension that was rolling off of the Arcanine's body however had him worried.

There wasn't any reason for Mojo to be so alert. At least no reason that he knew of. Mojo gave Sam a look, deep green eyes worried, before he growled low in his throat and took a step forward. For a moment Sam wondered if it was a wild pokémon passing through the yard that had Mojo so worried. But that theory didn't make any sense because wild pokémon passed through the yard all the time and so long as they were left alone they didn't bother anything. So if that wasn't it then what was? It was then that Sam heard it.

The sound of an engine running and this time he knew that he wasn't hearing things because Mojo heard it too. Setting his things down on a nearby table Sam moved towards one of the living room windows and pulled back a curtain so that he could see out into the front yard. From what he could see everything looked fine.

There was nothing out of the ordinary going on in the front yard from what he could see. Even his car was rolling backwards as if going downhill. Sam blinked and was about to close the curtain before he realized what was going on. His head turned so fast that he felt the muscles pull. He even blinked and rubbed his eyes.

Yes, his car was rolling backwards like it was going down hill or like someone or something was driving it.

"Damnit!" Sam cursed as he ran to pull on his shoes. He hadn't seen anybody in the car and no one was stupid enough to try and get past all the wild pokémon around the house and as far as he knew the front gate had closed behind him like it always did. Which meant one thing. His car was possessed!

"Damn those Haunter to the brightest place on Earth." Sam cursed again as he pulled his shoes on and grabbed his jacket from its place next to the door. Mojo was two steps behind his master. It took the pair of them only a few seconds to cross the front porch and get to the space the Camaro had been not a minute before.

The car was gone and Sam was certain that he could hear the sound of an engine coming from down the driveway.

"Fucking Haunter." Sam growled to himself as he climbed on Mojo's back. It was rare but on occasion a group of Haunter that lived up in the mountains paid him a visit in order to cause trouble. During one of the last visits they'd even gone so far as to haunt Miles car and while Sam had no idea how the ghosts even knew how to work a car he hadn't been very impressed. Miles hadn't been either for all that it mattered.

The pair had ended up chasing the possessed vehicle almost all the way to town before they'd caught up. It hadn't been a fun chase but now it appeared that the Haunter were back to their old tricks only this time it was his car that was the victim.

'_At least_,' Sam thought as Mojo began chasing the car, '_I was awake when they took it and not asleep_.' The night air around him was cold but not too cold. Mojo was full out running trying to catch up with the vehicle that had been taken from his trainer and while he didn't really care for the car it was important to his trainer.

Paws pounded as Mojo ran never quite catching up to the vehicle that was in front of them. The taillights glowed red in the dark and were the only thing that let them know that they were even going the right way. Sam shifted slightly were he sat on Mojo's back trying to find a position where he wouldn't be thrown while he pulled his phone from his pocket. He had a call to make and the sooner he made it the easier it would be to get his car back.

Hitting the last speed dial button on his phone Sam was pleased when an serous sounding female voice answered.

"Tranquility Police Department. This is officer Jennifer Jones speaking." Sam smiled slightly.

"Jenny this is Sam and I have a problem." The voice on the other end was quiet for a moment.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time Sam?" she asked sounding not at all mad or annoyed.

"I bought a car…"

"Finally. I'm sure Mojo was mad."

"Yes very but as I was saying. I bought a car and the damn things driving around without me in it." There was silence on the other end of the phone and for a moment Sam thought that the woman on the other end had hung up.

"You're not joking are you?" Jenny asked, "It's those Haunter again isn't it?"

"No Jenny my car just decided to take itself for a midnight drive. Of course it's those damn Haunter again! Get out here and help me catch it." Sam almost yelled. It wasn't that he was trying to be rude it was just that before long they'd be entering a more populated part of the road and it'd be harder for Mojo to move amongst the vehicles that were out and about that late at night.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me Samuel. I'm leaving the station right now but it's going to take me a bit to get to my car. Give me some details so I know what I'm looking for." Jenny said her voice completely calm.

She had been the officer that had been on duty when Miles car had been taken on a joy ride before and she had been the one who'd helped the boys chase down the possessed car. She'd also helped get the Haunter that had taken the car out of it. After that she'd practically become Sam's own personal cop at least so long as she was on duty.

The teen would call her before he'd even consider calling anyone else. The woman didn't really know what she'd done to earn the boys trust like she had but she was more than thankful for the faith he had in her and she'd promised herself that she'd help him in any way possible. Even if it meant that she had to help him chase down a car that had been stolen by pokémon and not people.

Sam rambled off the description of his car to the officer before hanging his phone up and putting it back into his pocket. He needed both hands to hold on with anyways. He had no desire to fall off of Mojo's back while the Arcanine was dodging through traffic no matter how light it was at that moment.

The traffic however mattered very little to the pair as they went through the main part of town and the started heading towards an old cement factory. Neither Mojo or the car slowed very much at all throughout the entire chase.

"Slow down Jo. We don't want them doing something drastic no matter how much you hate the car." Sniffing slightly as he did so Mojo slowed from a run down to a trot. Both watched at the car ahead of them busted the lock that was holding the gate to the cement factory closed. They lost sight of the car as they passed the end of a slow moving train.

As they entered the previously closed off area Sam pulled back on Mojo's main a signal that he needed to stop. Stopping as he'd been ordered Mojo earned himself a scratch behind the ears as Sam climbed down the gravel under his feet crunching slightly.

"Quiet Jo." Sam smiled as Mojo nodded and followed closely behind his trainer to where the car had vanished. Keeping their distance Sam watched as his car drove a good distance away before stopping. It was confusing in a way. He didn't quite understand why the Haunter that had taken his car for a joyride had decided to stop here of all places.

Or why they had stopped at all. Why not just lead them on a wild goose chase around Tranquility? He found out why not long after. Sam blinked because he wasn't quite sure if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing or if it was merely some kind of hallucination. Because the vehicle he was looking at had just grown arms and legs and stood up.

"Please tell me your seeing what I'm seeing." A soft growl followed by a whine was his reply. It didn't much matter though because if he was hallucinating then Mojo was too.

"What the hell?" Sam asked. A light much brighter than he could ever remember seeing was being shown up into the sky. He could just barley make out the outline of some sort of symbol. Taking a step back from what he was seeing Sam dug in his pocket for his phone. If whatever he was seeing was real he wanted some soft of proof to show Jenny when she finally got to them.

Flipping his phone open and turning on the camera function however didn't have any affect. The thing that he was trying to shoot was to far away and it was to dark to get a good picture or video. Sam snapped the phone closed and shoved it back into his pocket before grabbing hold of Mojo. Fingers intertwined with fur Sam began tugging backwards.

"We need to get out of here and find Jenny, Mojo." Sam said as he tugged again. Mojo took a step back however his attention was fixed firmly on the transformed car.

"Come on Jo." Sam growled under his breath. "We gotta go."

The process of moving was slow and annoying mainly because Mojo seemed to be refusing to move more than a step at a time while facing the transformed car. By the time the sound of gravel under tires arrived Sam was sure that he'd never heard a more wonderful sound. He needed Jenny to tell him that neither he nor Mojo were loosing their minds.

The only problem was that when he pointed to where the transformed car (or hallucination) had been it was already gone.

"Sam. I think you may need to come down to the station."

ooo

She was doing a difference kind of analysis now. There were no sounds, sights, or algorithms. Instead she was analyzing people. She was watching one group of people in particular. Keller and two other men were standing together in a group talking.

About what she knew quite well for she was standing close enough to hear what they were talking about. The words being passed between the men were about the virus that had infected the system and their inability to get rid of it. Apparently no matter what they threw at the virus it failed. Or to be more precise the virus adapted and speed up with each try. It was both fascinating and slightly worrisome.

Maggie wondered if the men realized that they weren't thinking about every possibility even if the possibility was very unlikely. Walking a few steps closer to them Maggie cleared her throat. It took her two tries to get the men's attention.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you there young lady. And who would you be?" The man, Brigham his nametag read, asked. Maggie stood a little straighter.

"I'm the one who detected the hack." Keller gave Maggie a slightly surprised look.

"It was you?" No one had told him at least not that he could remember. Or maybe they had tried and he just hadn't been listening. He'd been busy after all.

"Yes sir." Maggie nodded. "I just wanted to point out they whoever we're dealing with hacked the national military firewall in like ten seconds. Even a supercomputer with brute-force attack capabilities would take twenty years to do that." Maggie allowed herself a slight smile. The men in front of her appeared to be thinking about what she'd just said. Who knew maybe they'd believe her.

Sadly, it didn't appear that they did.

"I'm not sure where your going with this, young lady, but if the assault is so impossible then why do our latest security imagery show North Korea doubling it navel and air force activity?" Maggie raised an eye brow and fought the urge to roll her eyes and turn bitchy. Were the men around her really that stupid or something? Or did they lack common sense? She wasn't quite sure which it was but she was sure that it was one of them.

"Maybe it's a precaution because isn't that what were doing?" It made plenty of sense to her.

"Maybe isn't a word that we like to use around here." Brigham said. Maggie knew a challenge when she saw one and there was no way that she was going to back down now.

"Well I hope you not planning on going to war over one." Brigham merely gave her a smile. He really was a nice man.

"We're all ears Miss Madison." Keller said as he gave her his full attention. This was the only chance she'd have.

"Look you said it yourself. The signals changing, learning. We need to get past Fourier transforms and start considering quantum mechanics." For the first time in their entire conversation the third man spoke up.

"There's nothing on Earth that complicated.

"Yes there is. An organism. Like a DNA based computer. Maybe something like Porygon and its evolut-" Brigham cut her off mid sentence.

"That enough." he said and turned to leave.

"Look let my team study the signal pattern."

"That's enough," Keller said his voice firm,

"Now if you can bring me proof I'll be happy to listen to you but until then I suggest that you get back to work." It was quite clear that even he was through listening to her.

Maggie watched as both Keller and Brigham walked away followed closely by the third member of their little group. Maggie knew that she should be mad but she didn't have the time. She'd be mad later after she was finished working.

ooo

The amount of people at the Air Force One landing sight was enough to invade a small country. Though none of them knew what they were looking for they did know that whatever it was had left three of the men on the plane dead. Injured one of the men's pokémon and gotten away from two even if they had to be dragged out of the area.

The thing that they were looking for was currently using all of the controlled chaos to make it's way towards a police car. Only it wasn't a police car. It only looked like one. It was like Frenzy a Decepticon. Unlike Frenzy, Barricade was more dangerous and more trouble.

Door slamming behind him Frenzy climbed into the car and began speaking almost immediately. Though the words the little Con spoke wouldn't have made any sense to a human Barricade understood them perfectly.

"Those stupid insects and their pets attacked me." The hologram of the cop that was sitting in the front seat fixed its gaze on Frenzy.

"What of the Allspark? Any leads?" Frenzy nodded his head bobbing up and down like a birds. A single silver cable extended from the small silver robot and plugged into the police cars computer. Almost immediately a picture of Archibald Witwicky appeared.

"He has seen our language." Frenzy said as he searched further for any link to the late Captain. One was found on a basic eBay page. One of the man's descendants was looking for a someone willing to trade an assortment of ancestral artifacts for something else historical or something useful. Among the shown artifacts were a pair of beaten and scored glasses.

A simple scan revealed the microscopic symbols that covered the lens's. It didn't take very long for them to decode the page that held both the identity and the whereabouts of the glasses current owner. The had the information now all they needed were the glasses. No one in the crowded area outside of the car paid it any mind as it pulled out of the area and began driving towards it's next destination.

000000000

Poke'mon Teams (pokemon new to this chapter)

Lennox

Wargle - Valiant

Epps

Skarmory - Storm

Fig

Xatu - Aztec

Honchkrow - Metzli

Akeosu - Quetzal

Sam (any preserve pokemon mentioned but not listed only help. Sam dosn't own them)

Kojofu - Yin

Miles

Swampert - Mason

Mikaela

Typhlosion - Adair

Keller

Lucario- Auron

Glen

Porygon 2- Terabyte

Porygon-Z- Gigabyte

Maggie

Raichu- Sparky

Porygon - Kilobit


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Tranquility Police Station wasn't usually a place someone wanted to be unless they really needed help or as the case sometimes was you had a family member that worked there and you were bringing them food or visiting. It wasn't that the cops were mean or hateful though a few could be very annoying at times. It was simply that most of the towns residents tended to avoid the Station unless they ready couldn't.

Unfortunately for Sam he was quickly learning this lesson. Sam was ready to bang his head against the desk in front of him. The police station around him wasn't very busy it being so late at night and apparently two of the other officers had decided that it was their job to grill him about that's nights events. They didn't even have anything to do with why he was there. In fact the only reason he was there was so he could fill out the proper paperwork for his missing car and so Jenny could get his story down.

And yet the two idiots in front of him seemed set on giving him Hell for no reason other than boredom. Sam knew it was boredom too because he could feel it rolling off the pair like sweat. If they hadn't been cops Sam was sure that he'd have set Mojo on them. He was still really tempted to even if it meant that he'd get in a lot of trouble. He was sure that Jenny would agree with whatever reason he was able to think up.

"So your car stood up?" Apparently they'd been listening in too. Sam scrubbed a hand across his face. He was tired and he wanted to go home and go to sleep.

" Merciful Mew," Sam mumbled under his breath, "Yes, it stood up or at least it looked like it stood up. I think it might have bee-."

"Wow. Just think a car that can stand up. I gotta get me one of those. It'd be so useful when working. We'd be able to check out second story window's and parking would be a breeze."

Sam felt his eye twitch. He was fairly certain that the man sitting in front of him was either mocking him or acting up for the camera that was hidden somewhere in the room. It was probably a mixture of both. The problem was though that the guy wasn't listening and he was sure that if he told the jerk to leave him alone he'd get hit with some made up fine about disrespecting an officer of the law or something.

All he wanted to do was get the report for his car filled out and go home and sleep until he had to get up and work. Saturdays were always fairly busy days. He had fifteen more eggs arriving sometime that morning and the owner of one of the pokémon he was taking care of was going to stop by and check on it and if his luck was as bad as it could be then both of them would show up at the same time.

The last time that had happened the woman visiting her pokémon had screamed at him for him not giving her the attention that she though she disserved. It didn't help that she thought he wasn't being attentive enough when caring for her Persian. Mojo had growled at her the entire time she'd been at the preserve. Needless to say she'd been down right pissed when she'd left.

The sound of a drawer opening pulled Sam out of his annoyed thoughts. The cop in front of him pulled a wide mouthed plastic cup from the drawer. Sam knew what it was too because he had a small box full of them in a clean room back at his house though he used them for something other than what the cops used them for.

"Fill her up." he said as he pushed the cup towards Sam while his friend snickered behind him. "Lets see what you've been roll'n."

Groaning Sam shook his head and ignored the cup. He wasn't taking a drug test at least not one administered by the nutcase in front of him. Turning his head in another direction Sam's eye caught sight of the gun holster on the man's belt. Apparently the wanna be bad cop noticed for he straightened up almost immediately.

"You eye balling my piece Fifty Cent? You wanna reach for it? Go ahead and try because I will bust you up?" he challenged.

Sam drug a hand over his face. What had he done to disserve this? Surely, he hadn't done anything to bad. Sure, there were a few times he'd slacked off on homework and little things that needed to be done around the preserve but that was only every once in awhile.

"Anderson, you idiot you and Peters leave him the hell alone! He's here to file a missing car report and the last thing he needs is you idiots bothering him." Jenny snapped at her coworkers as she walked back into the room a stack of papers in her hand. Anderson shot the woman that had taken a place next to Sam one of her hands on his shoulder a dirty look.

"Fine. Lets go Peters we have better things to do." Anderson said as he stood and walked away only stopping to give Sam a flat look. Peters followed close behind him.

"Sorry about those two. They were transferred in from somewhere or another and they don't seem to realize that things here aren't like things were wherever they came from." Jenny said as she sat down in the chair that had previously held Anderson. Sam sighed and shook his head.

"It's okay. They were bored and I just happened to be here for them to amuse themselves with."

"Well I have all the papers that you need to sign here. We'll get you all set and official and with some luck by the time we find your rouge car the Haunter will have gotten bored and left." Sam laughed and rubbed a hand across his eyes.

"I can only hope so." He was ready for the whole ordeal to be done and over with completely.

"Now tell me everything." Jenny said as she rested her chin on steepled fingers. Sam sighed slightly as he told her about that's nights events the words rolling off of his tongue with tired ease. By the time he was finished even Jenny seemed slightly worried.

"So you think it was an illusion. That the Haunter for whatever reason were just messing with you for the fun of it." Sam shrugged.

"Well it's either that or my car really did stand up. I mean I know Mojo saw it too but that just means that if it was an illusion that he was seeing what I was seeing. It doesn't tell me if what the two of us saw was real or not." Sam said as his shoulders slumped and he leaned back in his chair. Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He'd seen ghost pokémon cause illusions before but he'd never seen one as big or as clear as he'd seen that night. Usually if the illusion that was being seen was really big, like his car changing had been, they'd flicker slightly but what he'd seen hadn't.

"Sam, we'll figure this out. The cops on patrol will let me know if they see your car. They've been warned about the Haunter and know to proceed with caution should the Haunter attack. Let me take you back to the preserve so that you can get some sleep. You look exhausted." Jenny said as she watched the boy sitting across from her.

He looked dead tired and stressed and if she knew him as well as she thought she did then he had a nice long list of things that needed to be done the next day. Opening up his eyes so that he was looking at Jenny, Sam offered her a smile.

"Thank you." They were the only words that he could really offer her for the offer she'd just made him. It was late and he didn't want Mojo running down roads when he didn't have to. Jenny merely smiled at him and he knew that she appreciated the thanks for what it was.

"Lets go then. The sooner we leave the sooner that you can get to bed." Jenny stood from her seat and grabbed the keys from her desk. Sam stood and followed without a word.

ooo

A line of telephone poles lead the way to Mahfouz's village and only then there was just a single wire running along the poles. Military men and child walked beneath the baking hot sun as they followed that single line of poles. Unknown to then however they were being followed. Even the flying types that circled in the air above them were unaware of the form that was hiding beneath the desert sands at that very moment.

Unaware of the danger that was so near to them the group walked on each man ready to fire the weapons that they carried should the need arise. None of them noticed the slightly shifting sands behind them. One of the poles shook almost as if something heavy had brushed against it. Not long after an old sign toppled over sending a wave of sand and dust into the air as it hit the ground. Guns rose immediately at the noise as the soldiers turned towards the fallen sign.

As far as Lennox was aware there was nothing there but then why had the sign fallen. Nothing above ground had caused it. It was possible that it had been a pokémon. Probably one of the many ground types that live both above and below the desert sands.

A Hippowdon perhaps or maybe an Onix. Either one seemed possible but the nagging feeling Lennox had that wouldn't go away told him different. He had the perfect pokémon to check and give them a little bit of a warning if there was something down there.

"Lennox?" Epps asked as he watched the Captain. Lennox turned his eyes on Epps for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's nothing Epps just wondering what knocked the sign over is all." Epps nodded in understanding. All of them were tense and waiting for whatever was going to happen to actually happen.

They didn't have to wait long as the sand beneath Donnely began to vibrate. Screeches filled the air just as something metallic and shiny slithered out from beneath the man. With reflexes born of training Donnely turned and was firing a barrage of bullets at the ground. The ting disappeared in the hail of bullets.

Eye's scanned the ground looking for whatever it was the Donnely had been firing at. It couldn't be gone could it? It wasn't. Skorponok burst from the sand seconds later his tail whipping forwards and wrapping around Donnely like an Arbok's coils.

They were both gone before Donnely even had a chance to scream. Lennox however had plenty of time to scream.

"Lets move!" The Captain shouted as he pulled one of his pokéballs from his belt. It was time to fight metal with steel. He wasn't sure how effective his next pokémon was going to be but it was worth a try. Throwing the ball into the air Lennox didn't even wait for the pokémon to appear before he was shouting out an order.

"Titan use dig and follow whatever it is that's after us!" There was a flash of a long silver body in the sun before the long snakelike form disappeared underneath the desert sands. Lennox know that titan would wait for his command before attacking the creature that was after them. Feet pounding against the ground beneath them as they ran Lennox and his men made their way towards the village that sat not so far away.

Skorponok burst from the ground a second time apparently unaware that it was no longer the only thing using the sand as a hiding place. The sound of the soldiers shouts had apparently drawn the attention of many of the villagers for as they neared the town several armed men came running. As they entered the village their ears were assaulted by the panicked sounds of animals as they bolted and pokémon as they growled and hissed at the threat that had just entered their home. Lennox watched as a tall man exited a nearby home and starting running in their direction. The man was running towards Mahfouz.

Lennox watched father and son reunite before turning and peeking out from behind the mud wall that he and his soldiers were hidden behind. Skorponok had retreated back into the sands again. A loud eagle like shriek caused Lennox to turn his eyes from the ground to the sky. The flying types that had been deployed as lookouts were coming in for a landing. And Lennox was the only one who'd noticed their arrival the rest of his men had as well.

"Call them back!" Lennox shouted as he watched the pokémon land. Valiant landed not six feet behind him. Turning Lennox offered the bird a smile before pulling its ball from his belt.

"You did good Valiant but I don't think you could do much damage against that thing." It was with an unhappy squawk that Valiant was returned to its pokéball. Lennox was only half aware of the others following his orders. His attention had returned to Mahfouz and his father. They needed a way to contact help and there was a slight possibility that Mahfouz's father could provide it. Running up to the pair Lennox took a hold of the man's shoulders as soon as he was within reach.

"Sir, do you have a phone?" he asked. At that moment Skorponok erupted from the ground again. Almost automatically the soldiers began firing at the mechanoid with what ever they had. Skorponok retaliated with bursts of plasma that vaporized whatever they hit. Lennox saw none of this however as he followed father and son to a white washed building that served as the pairs house. Not long after they entered a cell phone was plucked off of a table and handed to Lennox.

"Thank you." Lennox said his voice hurried as he dialed a number. The voice of an operator sounded not long after.

"A T and T how my I direct you call?"

"International to the United States. This is an A class call to the Pentagon." The voice on the other end sounded as uncaring as its owner probably was.

"You service doesn't cover long distance calls. Do you have a major credit card?" Lennox growled.

"No, I don't have a credit card. Listen to me this is an emergency. I need you to put me through now."

"I would be most happy to connect you so long as you have a major credit card." The uncaring and bored tone was starting to get on Lennox's nerves. Did the man on the other end not hear the panic in his voice or the increasingly loud explosions coming from behind him? Cursing under his breath Lennox cast one glance at father and son before turning and running outside.

The sound of gunfire was heavy in the air but for all the bullets that had actually been fired it seemed as if nothing had done any good. Spotting Fig Lennox ran towards him.

"I hit it. I know I did but it didn't do anything." The man was muttering to himself as Lennox reached him and spun him around.

"Do you have a credit card?" Fig gave him a slightly confused look as one desperate gaze met another.

"My wife cut 'em all up." Lennox turned away from Fig as the officer started reloading his gun. Eyes scanning the area for another soldier. His gaze fell upon Epps who was still firing his weapon even though it didn't appear to be doing any good.

"Bring it. I'll tear your metal ass up!" Epps yelled as he fired at Skorponok.

"Epps where's you wallet!" Lennox shouted as he reached Epps. Epps didn't even turn to look at him as he yelled:

"Back pocket!" Digging through the various pockets that adorned his friends uniform Lennox pulled a battered leather wallet from on of the pockets.

"Bring it motherfucker!" Ignoring the shouting that was coming from behind him Lennox spoke to the man that was still on the other end of the phone.

"It's Visa and don't tell me you don't take it! " Lennox yelled before he started rattling off the numbers on the card.

"We take Visa," the operator said, "Would you be interested in our Premium Plus World Package." Lennox rolled his eyes and rolled as a ball of plasma hit the ground a few feet away from him.

"Just put the damn call through!" Lennox yelled before turning back to Epps and tossing the man the phone.

"Pentagon." Epps nodded and tossed Lennox his gun. The Captain was about to fire but a glint of silver in the sun aught his attention. In all of the excitement he'd completely forgotten about Titan. It was time to see if they could do any damage in a different way.

"Titan, use Iron Tail." With a roar Titan burst from the sand near Skorponok swinging a glowing silver tail as he went. The attack struck Skorponok on the back causing the mechanoid to falter for a moment. Titan disappeared underneath the desert sand a moment before a volley of plasma balls came its way. Lennox watched as Skorponok stumbled slightly.

It didn't look like Titan's attack had done much damage but he couldn't tell from where he was standing. A steel type move might not have done much but he was fairly certain that an electric type move might do a lot. It was worth the risk at least he hoped that what he was about to do was worth the risk. Because if he got one of his pokémon killed he'd never forgive himself.

"Dixon lets go." A lion's roar filled the air as Dixon burst from its ball. Golden eyes took in the scene around it before it looked at its trainer. Human and Luxray regarded each other for the briefest of moments. This wasn't the first time that Dixon had been called upon to fight.

"Dixon use Thunder." Lennox yelled as he fired his gun. Dixon roared as a thousands of volts worth of electricity burst from its body and hit Skorponok. The metallic shriek that the metal arachnid let out was more than satisfying and it proved his earlier theories about electric attacks working on the robots.

Sadly it seemed as if his new discovery had gone unnoticed by the others around him as none of them stopped long enough to unleash any pokémon that may have known an electric type move. Or maybe they were all just smarter than he was. As earth erupted around him Epps tried his best to cover the mouth piece of the phone he was currently holding it wouldn't do if the man sitting across the globe couldn't hear him speaking.

Though there was less of a need to do so with every passing second as his fellow soldiers continued to fall to Skorponok's weapons.

"Troops in contact mission, unknown freakin' aggressor! Need gun ships ASAP, everything you can send this way." As Epps waited for a reply his eyes strayed to where his thinning number of comrades was fighting against an impossible enemy just in time to see a bolt of electricity lash out at their attacker.

The metal scorpion squealed and seemed to loose its balance for a moment. Wide eyes tracked backwards from where the bolt had come from. What he saw both did and didn't surprise him. Dixon stood by Lennox's side fur standing on end as it prepared to fire off another attack. The Luxray was keeping it's distance never straying more than a few feet from Lennox and that was only to dodge the attacks that were sent its way.

Safer at a distance but highly useful. Epps's eyes swept across the battlefield. No one else was helping Dixon and Lennox. No one else was willing to risk their pokémon and they were putting both Lennox and Dixon in even more danger by doing it. Did the other's not get that their pokémon could not only help fight but help distract.

Epps snorted. Unlike the rest of the cowards he wasn't going to let someone else stay in danger. In a hurried move Epps pulled a ball from his belt and tossed it.

"Watts use Shock Wave!" he yelled as his Electivire landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"Vire Elec!" The red tips of Watts's tails glowed yellow for the briefest of moments before the electricity surged forward. The attack hit home and Skorponok turned towards them only to get hit by another attack from Dixon. The sound of a Predator caused Epps to look up. Ignoring the plane for now Epps turned back towards the fight.

The mud wall that both he and Lennox hade been hiding behind, in separate places, was practically gone from repeat hits causing both of them to make a hasty retreat Watts and Dixon close behind. Epps ran with the phone still up against one ear.

"Can you still hear me? Hello! Hello!" Epps shouted into the mouth piece as he ran. "Shit, are you there?"

"I got you." The words crackled as the man on the other end spoke but they could be heard and that was all that mattered. A ball of plasma struck the ground near him but he didn't dare move for fear of loosing his signal.

"Dixon Discharge! Watts Thunder!" Epps grinned slightly as Lennox took command of Watts. He wasn't at surprised at all when the ordered attack whizzed through the air.

Watts knew when Epps needed to do his job and was more than willing to listen to Lennox. Dixon was the same. If it came down to it the Luxray would follow his orders as if he were its actual trainer. The fired electric attacks also gave Skorponok something else to fire at instead of him.

"Seven man team north of orange smoke." Epps barked into the phone. "Attacks direction west, your clear and hot." Epps winced as another ball of plasma struck the ground not to far from where he was standing.

"This will be danger close but we got no choice." The reply from the man that Epps was talking to mad him smile. Eyes roaming the battlefield Epps caught sight of Lennox. The captain was looking in his direction. Epps gave him a thumbs up and raised his voice to shout at him.

"Got a beam-rider incoming! Laze target!" Lennox nodded and began passing the word along. Spreading out the fighting soldiers began pointing the laser designators at Skorponok. The more options they gave the approaching aircraft the better their chances of not getting hit were.

ooo

All of the firing and killing that was being required in order to obtain a single recording device was taking much longer than expected. While Skorponok cared not for the humans he killed or for their weapons the amount of time that was being wasted was the only down side. Then there were the two creatures that had been hitting him with controlled bursts of electricity. Unlike the humans those creatures did posses a threat.

At least they did if they hit him enough. While the bursts of electricity hurt the odds of them bringing him down were small if there were more of those things the chance of them overloading his systems was great but seeing as there were only two there wasn't much for him to worry about. Reaching out with sensors that were beyond human Skorponok was able to locate which of the humans was carrying the recording device that he sought.

Taking careful aim Skorponok fired a single ball of plasma at the human. The ball struck and the human tumbled to the ground the desired interment falling from his pack. Skorponok moved towards the fallen human and the item it sought. There were more important things to be done.

ooo

Lennox was the first to notice the incoming air support. He had just enough time to yell, "The heats coming!" as he and the two pokémon at his side ran for cover. A low embankment fronting a shallow gully was the nearest place he could reach.

Jumping down into the gully Lennox was only half aware that both he, Dixon, and Watts were all trying to burry themselves as deep in the sand as they could. The ground behind him exploded as missiles struck their targets. Sand and soil rained down upon those hiding in the gully and it was only when they'd stopped that Lennox dared to look.

An impressive sized whole had been blown into the center of the town. It didn't take long however for the scorpion like form that they had been fighting to reappear.

"The hell." Lennox muttered as his eyes took in his surroundings. His eyes found Epps where the man was crouched against a wall. "It's still not down!" he yelled. Epps nodded his eyes wide before he began shouting into the phone again.

"Spooky, thirty-two: use one-oh-five shells. Bring the rain!"

"Shit." Lennox said. Not that he was unhappy about what was about to come. On the contrary it was in fact a very good thing. It was also a good thing he wasn't going to stick around and see. Pulling himself from his hiding place Lennox began running like a bat out of hell. Dixon was several feet in front of him and Watts had joined his trainer.

None of them wanted to be anywhere near their attacker. And the further away they were the better. The only warning they had before the area behind them went to hell was a low whine. The sound of live fire heralded the rain of sabot rounds that rained down on Skorponok destroying sand and rock alike. An artificial sandstorm engulfed the solders fleeing the area.

A lack of wind meant that the solders and the pilots had to wait for the dust to settle before they could see anything. When the air cleared enough to see Epps and Watts peered around the building that they had hidden behind. Skorponok was still standing. Well to be more precise he was wobbling as if he couldn't regain his balance.

The tip of his deadly tail was swinging back and forth almost completely sheered off by the rounds that had struck him. As the metal tip of his tail finally fell off Skorponok dipped his head and disappeared beneath the sand.

"Damn that thing was freaky." Epps said to himself getting an agreeing noise from Watts. Dark eyes flicked back to check on his partner. The Electivire wasn't in bad shape from what he could see. Though dirty and scrapped up quite a bit nothing to terrible appeared to have happened. The sound of am A-10 passing over his head caused Epps to look up for just a moment.

"Tivire." Turning Epps looked in the direction that Watts was staring. Lennox and Dixon emerged from the smoke. The men offered each other a smile. Lennox sank to his knee's winded. Dixon sat down next to his and pushed his head under one of the mans arms. Huffing lightly Lennox scratched the Luxray behind his ears causing it to purr.

Villagers began to emerge from their hiding places. Mahfouz and his father were among them. Lennox's sense of reprove lasted only a minute as he realized that they were still missing someone. Lennox turn towards Epps.

"Where's Fig?" he asked. A moment passed between them neither one of them knowing the answer to Lennox's question. It wasn't until Dixon stopped purring that both men turned to look elsewhere. Fig was stumbling towards them. His uniform was stained red, the dark stain growing with every passing seconds.

Lennox and Epps as well as their pokémon were moving just moments later. Fig saw them and offered them a smile and half a thumbs up before he collapsed. Lennox and Epps hit the sand beside their friend. Looking over at Epps's shocked face Lennox shouted:

"Get a med-evac down here now!"

ooo

Eggs delivered and trainer satisfied with his pokémon's progress Sam was able to mark those two things off of his mental to do list. That only left half a dozen other things that he needed to do. His report for school being one of those things and the sooner he got things around the preserve done the sooner he could do his report and the sooner he could go to bed.

The events of the previous night were still fresh in his mind though dulled a bit by sleep deprivation. Sam yawned and rubbed his eyes as he made his way towards the large metal building that sat at the very back of the yard. Though he supposed that there wasn't really a name for the building he'd called it The Rehab House since he was little and even at the age of sixteen the name was still used.

And really it was a good a name as any for that's what the building was for. Large and made of metal that was guaranteed to survive almost constant abuse The Rehab House was far grander on the inside that it was on the outside. The door leading into the building squeaked slightly on its hinges as he opened it. Bright light coming from windows that covered the ceiling made him blink his eyes rapidly.

The space Sam stepped into was large and open. Six large cages lined the wall across from him and two large tanks sat against each end of the room. Two more tanks, a storage room, and a bathroom sat against the wall nearest to him. A loud whinny drew Sam's attention to the Rapidash standing in one of the cages nearest to him. Smiling Sam walked over to the cage and opened the door.

"Good morning to you to, Rain." Sam said as he ran a hand down her muzzle. Rain snickered in response to the attention. Gently nudging Sam in return.

"Are you hungry?" Sam asked as he grabbed a bridle that hung from a peg outside of the cage door. Rain stood still as Sam fitted the bridle over her head and attached a lead rope. "I think that your ready for the corral outside of the barn and some fresh grass." Sam said as he lead the Rapidash out of the building and towards a faded red barn that sat closer to the main house than the Rehab House did.

Rain had arrived about four months before for physical rehab having suffered a broken leg. Though the leg had healed she wasn't quite willing to put much weight on it. Her owner had told him that Rain was one of his best racers and had high hopes that she would be ready to race again by the time the tracks were open for the nest season. Glancing back Sam made a mental note of the slight limp that Rain still seemed to have.

While she was far from racing condition she would be ride able soon so long as the rides were slow and easy and didn't push too hard. It'd take an expert to tell if she'd ever be able to race again and while Sam was good he wasn't good enough to tell by himself. He could only offer his own opinion when it came to physical injuries.

Emotional injuries however were another story. When it came to a pokémon's emotional welfare very few knew better than he did and those that did were often older and more experienced empaths. More often than not any pokémon that came to him in need of emotional therapy often came in with healing physical injuries as well.

Sam was fairly certain that he'd seen more abused, abandoned, and homeless pokémon in his sixteen years than most of his school mates had seen in their entire lives put together. He'd seen hundreds of pokémon that had needed his families help for trauma caused by people. Most of the pokémon that hung around the house were pokémon that had been helped by his grandfather and mother before they had died.

They were all wonderful company of course and many of them were more than willing to help protect the preserve when the occasional idiot tried to hunt the pokémon that lived there or ,as one man had tried, to break into his house. Three of the pokémon that were currently residing in the Rehab House had trainers while the other two were wild pokémon from the preserve that had been injured in battles.

The two wild pokémon would be leaving in about a week or so. The three pokémon with trainers in a couple of months or weeks depending on their injury. Mojo's loud bark alerted Sam to the Arcanine's presence before the large dog could actually try and knock him over.

"Hey Jo." Sam called as he glanced at Mojo and then laughed. Mojo was chasing around one of the homeless pokémon that lived on the preserve with them. Seeing him the Pachirisu that was being chased headed in his direction.

Chattering as it climbed up Sam's pants leg and then his shirt it sought refuge on Sam's shoulder. If Sam recalled correctly then the Pachirisu's trainer had died of some illness that he didn't know about and the trainers family hadn't wanted it. It was a painful reminder of a lost child. So rather than letting it be abandoned somewhere where it might starve or get hurt Sam's grandfather had agreed to take it in. The little apricorn fiend had lived with them ever since.

"Get tired already?" Sam asked as he scratched one of Pachirisu's ears. He received no reply other than the Pachirisu pressing its head into his palm. Mojo however gave an annoyed growl as it followed behind Sam and Rain.

"Go chase Sparkplug around Mojo. He's more willing to play chase with you and it'll keep him out of the berries." Mojo tilted his head and turned towards the rows of trees that sat in front of the Rehab House. With a single bark Mojo took of sniffing the ground as he went. Sam huffed as watched Mojo run off. His days were never boring and he was almost always busy as there was almost always something to do.

It went a long way in keeping him from thinking about his missing car and the fact that he had yet to hear any news from Jenny or any other cop. He was still worried about what he'd seen the night before and there were a lot of unanswered questions that he wasn't really willing to ask. But he had a feeling that whatever had happened the night before would be explained in time. He still wasn't too sure about if he was ready for answers or not because answers changed things and change for him was almost always a bad thing when it decided to come around.

He tended to loose the things and people he cared about when it happened and the thought of loosing one of his pokémon or of him dieing and the preserve being left to the government made him shudder with fear. He could only hope that whatever happened would be good for once. Shaking his head to rid himself of worrisome thoughts Sam focused on the task at hand as he opened the gate to the corral, lead Rain in before taking off the bridle and laying it and the lead rope on the fence before exiting and closing the gate behind him.

He needed to go into town and get the mail from the Post Office that and he had three or four other errands that he needed to run as well. A bright yellow blur with brown stripes and a lightning bolt shaped tail ran past him at full speed followed closely by Mojo's much bigger form. Laughing out loud Sam shook his head.

He knew that Mojo would never hurt any of the pokémon that he chased around for fun but more often than not the smaller pokémon were scared by the big dog. The only one that didn't seem to mind was Sparkplug and that was probably because he was more than able to stop Mojo in his tracks if he wanted too. Electric attacks tended to do that sometimes.

"Mojo," he shouted, "Stop chasing Sparkplug and get over here we need to go to town!"

ooo

The pounding on the door was relentless and Glen almost tripped over Pug, his Snubbull, in his hasty attempt to answer. He had no idea who was there and the last person he'd expected to see was a very hurried looking Maggie.

"Maggie what are you doing here?" Maggie didn't answer she merely pushed past him and stepped into the house. "This is my private area. What are you doing here?" Glen asked again as he chased Maggie towards the room that he'd exited only due to the constant banging at the front door. A voice boomed from another part of the house.

"Glen, who is it?" Glen winced slightly at the loud noise before offering his own answer.

"It's nothing grandma!" he shouted before once again turning to Maggie. "What're you doing here?"

Maggie finally turned and looked at him. "I need you help with something." Glen took a step back.

"No way. I not getting fired for you."

"Glen! Glenny!" Glen winced again and turned so that he was looking towards the houses kitchen.

"Ok you seriously need to leave before you give the poor old woman a heart attack." Maggie scoffed and rolled her eyes. Barley seconds later Glen's grandma walked into the hallway where the pair were standing. The robe clad, face masked woman gave Maggie a single up and down before turning on Glen.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"No one, Grandma," he replied, "She's just a friend."

The old woman sniffed, snapped "Use a condom," and turned to leave. Glen hid his face behind a hand and shook his head.

"Can't you just leave?" he asked. His grandma sniffed and nodded at Maggie's feet before heading back into the kitchen. Defeated Glen turned towards Maggie. "Take off your shoes and stay on the runners. Grandma's weird about feet touching carpet." Maggie nodded as she reached down to take off her shoes.

"Mud?" she asked. Glen shrugged. "Mud. Microbes, bugs, anthrax spores. She listens to too much news." Maggie glanced down at Pug.

"How'd you convince her to let your pokémon in the house then."

"They get a good scrub down right after I let them out of their balls. All of them but Fatso which doesn't really matter because he stays outside anyways. That and Pug cuddles with her so he's an exception."

Maggie nodded in understanding as she sat down on the couch. "Glen we have to talk. No one's better at signal analysis than you and you're the only one genius enough to understand what I'm talking about." Glen eyebrows drew together.

"No. Get out. I mean it Maggie, out." Reaching over Maggie dug around in her purse for a moment before pulling out a neon colored flash drive. Holding it between two of her fingers she waved it in front of Glen's face.

"Don't you want to see something classified?" Glen's eyes followed the brightly colored flash drive as Maggie waved it back and forth. The chubby man was obviously having some sort of internal battle.

"Like how classified?" he asked. Maggie smirked.

"Like I could go to jail forever if I showed you classified." With a careless shrug Maggie put the drive back into her purse. "If you don't want to help me that's cool. I'll just go find someone else to help me." Glen's eyes widened in horror.

"No. I take a quick peak."

"Good." Smiling Maggie made her way towards Glen's computer where she slid the drive into an available slot. Rushing over before she could sit in his chair glen pushed Maggie aside and plopped down.

ooo

Despite being younger than the Secretary of Defense Keller's aid and his Cinccino had to jog at times in order to keep up with the man and his Alakazam. The pair were currently traveling down one of the many corridors of the Pentagon and both were set on their current destination.

"One of the special op'rs got a shot of whatever it was that attacked the base, however the imager was damaged during the fight. We're trying to recover the image now."

Keller nodded. "As soon as your able I want to see it." His aid nodded his head rapidly and for a second Keller was convinced that it might fall off.

"Of course sir." Before either one of them was able to speak again the pair was interrupted by a breathless secretary agent. "Sir, we have a serous internal security issue. One of the logs indicate that one of the analysis's made a copy of the network intrusion signal."

Keller looked at the man before him for a moment before speaking.

"Let me guess, Maggie Madison?" The agent gave him a surprised look.

"How'd you know?" Keller gave the man a wan smile.

"I'm psychic. It a secretary of defense thing." Two pairs of eyes glanced at the Alakazam standing behind it's trainer. "I'm assuming that you've initiated an appropriate follow up?" The man nodded his head.

"Yes, sir. Standard procedure. As is letting you know."

"Keep me noted and please try not to shoot anybody until I've had a chance to talk to them."

ooo

Had it been any other day of his life Maggie's close proximity to him would have given him a nervous breakdown. This wasn't the case however as the pair studied the screen of Glen's computer and the information displayed there. As things were Glen hardly noticed the blonde that was leaning over his shoulder.

"I've never seen anything like this before. Not in my entire life. The signals strength is through the roof." Glen glanced over at his companion.

"Where'd you say you got it?" Her reply wasn't quite what he'd wanted.

"This hacked the Military Air national Guard frequency in less than sixty seconds." Glen was understandably amazed.

"No way."

"Way. This things driving everybody nuts. No one's ever encountered anything like this before and no one knows where it came from?"

"Artoo Detoo?" Glen suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. Maggie gave him a look that didn't promise nice things in his future.

"Be serous Glen." Glen gave her a slightly hopeless look.

"I have no idea where this came from but it reeks of some kind of assembly code. There's an elegance to it that no programmer could compile. It's like poetry."

Maggie pursed her lips and thought about it for a moment. There was no sarcasm in her voice when she next spoke.

"Just so one of us says it out loud, because one of use needs to say it, are we seriously talking about some sort of alien machine communication?" Glen didn't miss a beat.

"Who says that life on other planets has to evolve like we did? Why not silicon or a mixture of it and carbon? Or, you know, something else that we can't imagine because it's alien."

Turning to look once more at the continually cycling recording Glen blinked. It almost looked like there was something-

"Hold on. I think there's something imbedded in the signal." Maggie leaned in for a closer look.

"It looks like a file of some kind. Maybe it's something they hacked. Can you open it?" she asked. Glen was already typing his fingers working furiously at the keys on the keyboard like a pianist playing Mozart.

His attention was no longer split between Maggie and the computer. Now he was only focusing on the later for all he knew Maggie could have left.

"How'd you get into computers?" Glen asked as he worked. While he might have been working like Maggie wasn't there apparently he hadn't forgotten about her.

"I had a stutter when I was little and I didn't like talking out loud. Not even to my pokémon. The keyboard didn't make fun of me, it didn't point fingers. It did the talking for me." One of Maggie's cheeks had started twitching. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"To late. You shared." Glen said as he continued to type.

"Well I take it back."

"You can't that's why it's called sharing." he said trying not to sound triumphant in his small victory.

"Hey…" Glen nodded towards the screen where a file name had appeared.

**PROJECT ICE MAN- TOP SECRET SCI- SECTOR SEVEN ACESS ONLY**.

Both stared at the file name. It was simple and straight forward and didn't make a lick of sense to either one of them.

"Project- Ice Man?" Maggie mumbled to herself. It sounded like the name for some sort of cartoon or something. It surly didn't sound like anything important enough to draw the attention of national security and homicidal aliens.

"What's Sector Seven?" Glen asked. Glen's hand moved to the mouse and a few simple movements of said mouse had more information scrolling down the screen. From what they could see scrolling across the screen it looked like the file contained the history of Artic exploration. This included foreign sources as well as sources in American English. Many names that both of them knew appeared as well as a name that neither one of them had ever seen.

"Who's Captain Archibald Witwicky?" Maggie asked as she scrunched her nose at the picture of an addled looking older man. Before the subject of the unknown explorer could be discussed further the door to the house burst open and what seemed to be no less than an entire squad of FBI agents entered the house.

Before they could even properly react both Maggie and Glen found themselves thrown to the floor. One man cuffed Maggie's hands behind her back with soft handcuffs while his partner stood over her.

"Maggie Madison, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Maggie shifted slightly and her gaze fell upon Glen who was being treated far more harshly than she was.

"He's not a part of this!" she shouted, "It's me, all me!"

"What's going on? Do you have a warrant?" Glen asked as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him. A voice of higher power however stopped his questions. Coming from the vicinity of the kitchen his grandmother was shouting.

"Tell them to stay on the plastic!"

ooo

The streets were busy and the sidewalks were crowded and Sam was ready to beat his head against a wall because despite Clover's help in blocking out the people around him he still had a headache that was on the verge of becoming a full fledged migraine if he didn't manage to get his errands done soon. He was close though one more stop and they could get out of town and back to the preserve. Sam eyed the street in front of him warily.

There were more cars on the road than their usually was on Saturday and Sam couldn't quite remember the reason why. Not that it really mattered all that much. If there was something going on in or around town that increased traffic flow then he tended to avoid it. Unless of course Miles drug him somewhere against his will. Sam knew that Miles meant well but the blondes attempts to get him out and about and into crowded areas never tended to end well. The blonde had forced him to go to the fair with him and his mother over a month ago. He'd lasted almost two hours before he'd gotten physically ill from the emotional overload and they'd had to leave.

Needless to say he avoided everything that drew a crowd like the plague no matter what it was. Needless to say he missed out on a lot because of it.

"I think we're walking to the bookstore Clover." Sam said as he looked down. He wasn't risking Mojo's safety just to get down three blocks faster even if the Arcanine was willing to run through heavy traffic. Besides the walk wouldn't kill him and there were less crowded paths to take in order to get too where they were going.

Clover gazed back at him her dark purple eyes more than understanding. The pair started walking down the sidewalk avoiding both people and pokémon as they went. The walk was peaceful and no one bothered them as they went. The people around him had better things to do than pay him anymore attention than a passing glace at most. That was how Sam preferred it. The less attention he got the better off he was.

"Eeeon." Sam looked down at Clover's cry. She was ahead of him slightly and Sam was quite sure that she was actually choosing the route that they'd be taking to the bookstore. Not that he minded. Clover would be able to find the route with the least amount of people on it and that meant that it'd give his headache a chance to die a little before he was forced to reenter the Saturday shopping crowd.

He'd leaned long ago that trips to town were unavoidable no matter how much he wished they were and that it was better to let Clover pick the route when she was out even if it took a little longer to reach their desired destination because of it. As they passed the local Burger King Sam noticed that Mikaela and a group of her friends were there.

If she saw him she didn't pay him any mind. Not that he had expected her to. It didn't much matter however because as soon as they turned the next corner Mikaela fell out of view and the rest of the busy street began to die away. Sam knew where they were going by the fact that they'd passed by Burger King. They had in fact been there many times before. It was one of their most used routes when Clover was leading or when Sam was riding Mojo.

Both pokémon liked it for one reason and one reason only. It was more or less disserted and for good reason. The highway overpass that they were currently walking under didn't look like the most welcoming place in the world. But for Sam, who avoided people whenever possible, it was almost a very small slice of heaven when compared to overpopulated streets. Or at least it was usually unpopulated. Halfway through the underpass the whoop whoop of police sirens caused Sam to stop and turn around.

Sam blinked in slight shock at the sight of the car for as long as he'd traveled under the underpass he'd never once seen a cop car anywhere near the area at least not during the day. From what Jenny had told him however they patrolled there regularly at night. Sam was prepared to turn back around and continue walking, he hadn't done anything after all and any news about his car would be learned about from a call, however a sharp bolt of what felt like fear tore through his head with such force that he took a sharp breath.

Sam's head jerked as he looked down at Clover. Fur raised on end, ears flat against her skull, and tail tucked Clover looked like she was about to either flee the area or attack the police car with everything she was worth. Sam's body automatically tensed in response to Clover's emotions. He didn't know what it was but something about the car had Clover scared and worried. Sam took a step back as the car rolled forward. Clover growled and took a step back.

"Come on, Clover." Sam said in a low voice as he backed up another step. Sam didn't care if he got in trouble because he ran from a cop. He had no desire to be in the same area as the vehicle in front of him and neither did Clover. Thinking that perhaps the driver was one of the jerks from the night before Sam's eyes flicked up towards the windshield.

The driver sat still as stone his gaze fixed on Sam as if he were an Arbok watching its prey. Sam sure felt like a cornered Rattata that was ready to run. The car was creeping closer inch by inch and the closer it got the more Sam wanted to run. He was just about to do just that when the cop car surged forward with a roar of its engine and knocked him off of his feet. Sam let out a startled shout as he toppled backwards and hit the ground.

"Espeon!" Almost immediately Clover moved in front of him as if she was certain that should the driver decide that he wanted to run Sam over she'd be able to stop him. While it wasn't likely that her plan would work Sam appreciated the fact that she cared enough to get ran over for him. It was also something that he wasn't going to let happen.

Reaching forward Sam just barley managed to grab the end of Clover's tail and pull her backwards and into his arms as the cop car surged forward another few feet. It was close enough now that Sam could put his foot against the bumper and push himself backwards. Clover pinned to his chest by his arms Sam made a desperate attempt to plea his case to the man he could no longer see.

"Look I don't know what I did but I'm sorry that I did it and I'll never do it again." Sam's voice pleaded with the man to see reason. The fact that the engine revved and he was pushed backwards by the car was the only thing that told him that his plea hadn't worked at all.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Sam repeated as the engine revved one final time before the headlights did something that they shouldn't have done. Sam watched his eyes wide as the headlights extended outwards and towards him before they lifted up and the whole car began moving. Sam watched as metal changed position until the car that had been in front of his moments before stood up on two legs and locked red eyes on him.

Sam let go of Clover so that he could scramble backwards away from the metal giant. He moved just in time for long claws dug themselves into the ground where he had been moments before. Understandably terrified and more than shocked Sam was still able to keep some of his wits about him. Sam pushed himself up and began running as fast as his legs would carry him. Clover was running in front of him as fast as her legs would carry her.

Whatever the thing behind them intended bodily harm and while Sam wasn't really sure if it wanted to hurt him or if it wanted to hurt Clover he wasn't planning on stopping to find out. He was to busy running for his life at the moment. The ground beneath him shook as Barricade ran after him the sixteen foot tall robot running him down like Mojo had been chasing Pachirisu and Sparkplug earlier that day.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" While his repeated cursing didn't help him run any faster or guarantee that neither he nor Clover would be caught by the metal monster behind them it expressed how both human and pokémon felt very well. Daring to glance behind his shoulder Sam paled slightly at the sight of Barricade being so close behind him.

Turning so that he was once again facing the direction he was running Sam failed to see the hand that struck out at him. The blow caught him in the middle of the back and tossed him up into the air. His flight was stopped when he impacted the front windshield of an abandoned car. Breath forced from his lugs by the impact Sam could only watch as Barricade bore down on him.

"Please let this be a bad dream." Sam whispered as he closed his eyes and willed himself to wake up. Sadly his attempt failed for as he well knew he was wide awake and he wouldn't be waking up to find that he had merely been having a bad dream. Reopening his eyes Sam found that the robot that had been chasing him was standing before him it's face mere inches from his. Sam eyes focused on the being before him and after looking for a moment he decided that he was screwed. This thing was going to kill him.

He didn't know why it was going to but he was fairly certain that it was indeed going too. A pair of metal fists slammed into the car on either side of him. The action caused metal and plastic to splinter and support steel and fenders to shatter. A loud explosion of air was the two front tires bursting. The metal on either side of Sam was dented from the fists impact and Sam tried his hardest to pull back and get away from the monstrosity before him.

"Are you username egghatcher217?" The voice that spoke was deep, understandable and didn't contain even the tiniest bit of humanity.

"What?" Sam asked because he was sure that he hadn't heard what the thing before him was saying right over the sound of his own heartbeat.

"Are you username egghatcher217?" Barricade's voice was even louder as he shouted the question.

"Yeah." Sam was barley able to stutter out as he meat the artificial red gaze before him.

"Where is eBay item two-one-one-five-three?"

"Where's what?" A deep growl sounded from the robot standing over him. One of Barricade's fists struck the car again and Sam winced. Patience wasn't part of Barricade's personality programming and when he next spoke his tone was even darker and more threatening.

"Where are the glasses?" Before Sam could answer a shower of stars struck the metal monster before him. Barricade stumbled back from the unexpected assault and Sam took that moment to get his feet under him and run. The car beneath him offered little resistance as his feet hit the roof and he jumped off of the trunk.

The car was tossed aside not five seconds later by Barricade by then however Sam had managed to get a good distance away. Clover running by his side. An echo of large feet followed the pair as they ran towards the other side of the underpass hoping against hope that they could get away from the mech chasing after them. Instead of salvation the other side of the underpass offered up something else. Mikaela coming their way riding on her blue Vespa.

Horrified eyes took in the girl that was coming his way and heading straight towards the monster that was chasing after him. It took half a second for Sam to make his decision. As soon as the brunette was within reaching distance Sam reached out and took hold of the girls jacket pulling her off the scooter. The sudden weight caused him to fall to the ground taking Mikaela with him. The pair hit the ground hard.

"What the hell is your problem Sam?" Mikaela asked as she looked at the boy that had pulled her down. She failed to notice the more than panicked look that was on Sam's face.

"You gotta get up and run Mikaela. Seriously Mikaela get up." Sam's voice was panicked and scared and a moment later the reason why came into view. Blue eyes widened at the sight of Barricade charging towards them. Doing the only thing that would even register in her mind Mikaela let out an ear piercing shriek.

Sam cringed at the sound but took a hold of Mikaela's arm nonetheless and tried to pull her to her feet so that they could start running. Clover stood beside the pair her body tense and ready to attack should she need to defend her trainer and the other person with him. She was saved from doing so when another mechanical form swerved into view.

It was the very Camaro that she had ridden in the day before. The one that had disappeared the night before and that Sam and Mojo had followed thinking that it was being taken out for a joyride by unwanted guests. The three on the ground watched as the car did a forty mile-per-hour slide and knocked into Barricade causing the behemoth to topple over.

The cars passenger door opened and the words to 'Hero' blared from the speakers at about the same time that the horn began to honk excessively. Behind the car barricade was rising to his feet again. Sam watched as Clover jumped into the car as if it weren't driving itself. Safety radiated off of Clover like heat. That was all the motivation that Sam needed.

"Get up and get in the car." Sam ordered as he pulled Mikaela to her feet and started pushing her towards the open passenger door. Mikaela tried to protest but Sam had the two of them in the car before she could even get started. The door snapped closed as soon as both teens were completely in and seated. The Camaro took of with a lurch and speed down the road away from Barricade. His target getting away barricade transformed and gave chase.

The not cars chased each other through a district that was filled with factories that was far past its glory days. Had anyone been in the area they would have seen an ordinary police car chasing a beat up old Camaro. The people riding in the beat up Camaro knew differently. As the Camaro turned a sharp curve Sam and Mikaela were thrown into each other. Clover slid along the back seat her claws doing nothing to help keep her in one place. Something whizzed past one of the Camaro's windows and a second later exploded in front of them.

"This isn't happening. This is not happening." Mikaela was almost screaming. While if given enough time she might have been able to convince herself she couldn't convince Sam. Who at that moment had been involved long before Mikaela herself had become involved.

Sam himself was mumbling a steady mantra of "Go, go, go, go, go." under his breath as the chase continued. However nothing had prepared the two of them for when the car they were in swerved and started heading towards a very solid looking dead end. Both Sam and Mikaela had covered their eyes while Clover had taken refuge in the backseats floorboard in preparation for impact and the crash that was sure to follow.

A moment before impact the car spun a perfect 180 and turned to face the oncoming police car. Sam opened his eyes at the lack of impact and wished that he hadn't.

"Such a bad idea." he said as he watched the cop car come closer firing small missiles the entire way. Much to its credit the car they were in managed to dodge every single one with something that might have been ease. Sam and Mikaela only spared the missiles a glance as one exploded behind them. Police car and Camaro were upon each other now only seconds away from colliding. It was in those final seconds that they swerved and missed each other.

It was impossible to tell if the screams coming from the Camaro's occupants or the sound of squealing tires was louder. The teens screams turned into grunts as the car they were in gave a final turn and dumped them both out of the passenger side door Clover scrambled out of the car after them. Any attempts the teens might have made to get up were killed as the car in front of them mimicked a motion that the cop car had performed earlier.

The yellow Camaro in front of then seemed to shift before parts were moving and changing into a form that was alien to all except for the cop car that was heading their way. Sam and Mikaela crawled backwards as the being in front of them shifted. The robot was still the same shade of bright yellow that the Camaro had been and Sam noticed that it even had the same racing stripes that he had commented on to Clover.

The yellow robot in front of them lunged forward towards the currently transforming cop car. The two collided in midair and hit the ground hard. When they regained their feet the yellow robot moved in front of them. The robot that had been the cop car made no move other than opening a compartment on its body. The compartment wasn't empty.

A much smaller completely silver robot was ejected from the larger bot before it lunged at the robot that had been Sam's Camaro. Neither Sam nor Mikaela had time to watch the brawl that was taking place in front of them because no sooner than the fight had started the little silver robot was making its way towards them. Sam and Mikaela climbed to the feet and started running. Only Mikaela was successful for something was slowing Sam down.

Turning so that he was looking behind him Sam found out why he wasn't getting anywhere. Frenzy had taken hold of his jeans and was trying to pull him backwards.

"Get off!" Sam shouted as he attempted to kick the robot that had a hold of him. His attempt failed but while his kick hadn't worked the Swift that hit the little silver monstrosity did. Falling forward due to the sudden ability to move Sam hit the ground with a grunt. Frenzy however had turned its attention from Sam to Clover who stood not too far away from them a deep growl rumbling in her throat. She was ready for a fight.

"No!" Sam screamed as Frenzy and Clover lunged at each other.

"Adair use Flamethrower." The stream of fire that flared between the Clover and Frenzy was the only thing that stopped them from fighting a full out physical fight. And Sam was quite sure that he could've kissed Mikaela for intervening when she had.

"Thank you." Sam said as he turned to face Mikaela. Mikaela only nodded as she focused on the battle in front of her. Climbing to his feet Sam moved so that he was standing beside her.

"Adair use Flame Wheel." Mikaela ordered. Her Typhlosion was more than happy to oblige. Flames erupted from its back forming a cocoon around it as it charged towards Frenzy. Frenzy tried to doge only to be held in place by Clover's Psychic. Adair's attack hit home and Frenzy screamed in pain as flames licked at his body.

By the time the dual attack had ended Frenzy crashed to the ground his entire frame shaking. The creatures he was fighting now were different than the ones he'd fought before. This battle was harder. Lunging to his feet Frenzy made to attack Adair.

"Use Swift." The counter attack came from two different directions both Clover and Adair launching the same attack at the same time and at the same target. Blades of energy hidden in the form of golden stars continued to slam into his body. It kept him distracted enough that when Mikaela came at him with an electric saw (where she'd gotten it Sam didn't know or care) he didn't even know she was there. There was a sound of metal on metal and a minute later Frenzy's head fell to the ground.

"Not so tuff now are you? You little freak." Mikaela snorted as she hefted the saw over one shoulder. Shaking his head Sam joined Mikaela and the two pokémon that stood beside her. All of them watched Frenzy's head for a moment before it began to move. In a repeat of his failed move Sam aimed a kick at the detached appendage sending the head soaring into the air.

None of them saw where it landed and none of them could bring themselves to care. Sam and Mikaela looked at each other before turning to where the other robots had been fighting. The sounds of battle had stopped and the cop car was fleeing. That meant that it was them, Adair, Clover, and the yellow robot.

"So, what do we do now?" Mikaela asked. Sam didn't have an answer for her.

Considering their current situation it wasn't all that surprising. Neither of them knew what to do as the large yellow robot started their way. The only thing that kelp[ them from running was the fact that neither Clover or Adair seemed to feel threatened by the alien that was coming closer with every step it took. The alien stopped about fifteen feet away from the two teens and their pokémon.

"What is it?" Mikaela asked as he stared at the being in front of them.

"I think its a robot. It's just way more advanced than anything we've made. More advanced than Porygon or Magnemite or Voltorb." Sam said. While there was no actual proof for his theory it was at the time the best thing that he could think of. It also helped that there wasn't anyone around to tell him otherwise. Filled with a sense of wonder Sam took a few steps forward and looked up at the robot. It looked back down at him.

"What are you doing?" Mikaela hissed behind him. It response to Sam's step forward the robot in front of them took a step forward. Sam looked down at Clover for a moment. She wasn't scared of the thing in front of them. That was all that it took to convince Sam that the robot in front of them didn't mean any harm. "He's not gonna hurt us." Mikaela snorted.

"How do you know that huh? Those things just had a giant droid death match." Sam shook his head and turned so that he was looking at Mikaela.

"Because their not scared." Sam nodded to both Adair and Clover. "And it wanted to hurt us it wouldn't have saved us from the monster cop. It'd have let that thing kill us and saved itself the trouble."

Mikaela was looking at Adair who seemed to find it okay to sniff around the area were they were currently standing. He didn't seemed worried at all. Adair's relaxed state didn't mean that Mikaela was going to relax at least not yet. Sam and the robot were still looking at one another.

"So what now?" Mikaela asked her gaze fixed on the machine that stood in front of them.

"I think they want something from me." Sam said. His eyes fixing on the lenses that seemed to be staring back into him. Mikaela huffed.

"What on Earth could you have that they want?" Sam shrugged.

"Don't know. The other one said something about my eBay page when he had me pinned earlier." As much as Mikaela wanted to make sense of Sam's reply she wasn't able to.

"What are you selling batteries or something?"

Sam glanced at her before turning his gaze back towards the alien. "Can you talk? In words that we can understand?" he asked. The robot shook its head. That much at least was understandable as was the radio do's voice that sounded from somewhere within the robots frame.

"XM satellite radio, one hundred and thirty digital channels of nonstop, commercial free, music, news, and entertainment!" Sam blinked. "I think it talks through the radio. Or at least it can use it to try and convey what it means." Sam said to a still staring Mikaela. The robot nodded its head frantically and clapped its hands.

"What were you doing last night?" Sam asked. He didn't quite feel the need to mention his theory about his car, well what he'd thought was a car, being taken for a joy ride by a group of annoying Haunter. It would be better to let the robot explain itself.

"Message from Starfleet, Captain - Throughout the infinite vastness of space - Angels will rain down from heaven! Halleluiah!"

"You were calling someone?" Sam asked. The yellow robot shook its head again.

" 'Visitors from heaven.'" Mikaela cast her gaze upwards. "I don't think that this guys even from our planet. What are you, like, an alien or something?"

The alien nodded and emitted a series of electronic squeals and clicks. Taking a step back the alien folded in upon itself and transformed back into the familiar form of a yellow and black Camaro. The horn was honking urgently.

"I think it wants us to get in the car." Sam said as he took a few steps forward.

"And go where?" Mikaela asked as she eyed Sam. Sam turned around completely and looked at her his eyes serious.

"I don't know but think about it. Fifty years from now when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?" Sam asked as he held out his hand for Mikaela to take.

Adair nudged his trainer forward slightly and Clover sat by the open door. They were all waiting for her to make a decision. One that could change her life forever and wither that change would be good or bad she didn't know. But Sam was willing to take the risk.

"It's not gonna let anything bad happen to us. Trust me Mikaela. We're safe with it." Mikaela watched as Sam climbed into the drivers seat and as Clover claimed her spot in the back. The passenger seat stayed empty waiting for her to join them.

"Adair return." There was a brief flash of red light as Mikaela called Adair back, for he wouldn't fit in the car with them, before she climbed into the passenger seat. The door on her side slammed shut and the cars tires spun as the car lurched forward and speed down the road.

Once they were back in the main part of town the Camaro slowed to the legal limit. Leaning forward in her seat Mikaela reached out with a single hand and ran her fingers over the sun bleached and faded dashboard. It felt just like a real one.

"Hold on." Mikaela found herself addressing the car that she and Sam sat in almost unwillingly but she had a question that was burning to be answered. "If you can take a different shape then why choose this junker? I mean why not something with more style?"

The brakes squealed as the car jerked to a stop and both doors opened and the car tilted sharply in both directions dumping both Sam and Mikaela onto the road. Clover was the only one that landed on her feet. Sam stood and made to brush off his cloths then he remembered that they'd been dirtied by a days worth of work before the whole chase scene and stopped.

"I think you hurt its feelings." Sam said as he watched the car drive away. "Well sorry." Mikaela said her tone slightly annoyed. Apparently she was tired of being dumped onto the ground.

"Eee." Clover cried as her ears perked and she fixed her gaze on a vehicle that was coming in the pairs direction. Two sets of eyes widened at sight of a car that they had only would have been able to afford in their dreams. Said car was coming towards them. While the car's model wasn't immediately recognizable the yellow paint and black racing stripes were. Mikaela smiled as she took a step towards the now stopped car and ran a finger along the shiny hood.

"Now this is a car." Sam offered the vehicle his own appreciative look. It was going to be a pain in the ass though to explain the car's sudden transformation to Miles and his mom. It was however something that would have to wait for it seemed like the car was waiting for them.

The two teens climbed into the car. Clover jumping in after them and reclaiming her seat once again. As soon as the two teens were seated and buckled in the car took off again music blaring from its speakers. Reaching down Mikaela retrieved her purse from the foot well in front of her and tossed it onto the back seat next to Clover. None of them noticed the glowing eyes the peered over the purses rim.

000000000

Poke'mon Teams (pokémon new to this chapter)

Lennox

Steelix - Titan

Luxray - Dixon

Epps

Electivire - Watts

Sam (any preserve pokémon mentioned but not listed only help. Sam dosn't own them)

Pikachu - Sparkplug

Keller

Alakazam

Glen

Snubbull - Pug

Snorlax - Fatso


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The room that they'd been out in upon arrival was spacious but fairly empty. Only a table and chairs occupied the open space. The room wasn't designed for comfort as the current occupants had found out not long after they been left there. Maggie shook her head in slight disgust as she watched Glen devour another donut.

Glasses, a pitcher of water, and a plate piled high with donuts had been placed in the room with them not long after they'd been closed in and so far Glen had eaten about half of the pastries on the plate himself. He'd been nice and had offered her one but she turned his offer down. Watching him scarf down food like a starving Snorlax had killed any desire that she might had had for food. Besides she was more worried about what was going to happen to her and Glen.

"Look," Glen said while brushing crumbs off of his shirt, "I know how theses guys work okay. It's just like in the movies. They're gonna come in here and play bad cop good cop. And no matter what don't say a word okay. We gotta stick together."

Maggie had just enough time to shake her head and wish, not for the first time, that the FBI agents that had brought them to their little room hadn't taken their pokéball belts, it would have been nice to have had Sparky or Autumn or one of her other pokémon out for comfort, before the room's windowless door opened and admitted light and a single FBI agent.

Upon seeing the big and serious looking man entering the room Glen shot a single look at Maggie before pushing himself away from the table that they were sitting at putting distance between him and his associate. His resolve crumble when the agent in front of them gave them a stern look before tossing a file on the table between them. Glen shot up form his seat.

"She did it. She's the one you want!" Glen said, pointing. "I was just at home playing videogames! It's all her! I'll do whatever you guys want! I'll even wear a wire!" Glen's voice was frantic as he talked and he was either on the urge of blubbering or throwing up. Maggie didn't care witch it was as she shot her friend an outraged look.

"Glen, you're a freak." she said her voice cross.

"I'm not going to jail for you or for anybody. I haven't done anything really bad in my entire life." Glen's voice was still frantic as he spoke. "I'm still a virgin! Okay so I downloaded a lot of music and I might have hacked the CIA once or twice but I just wanted one of those badges! I'll give it back I swear!"

"Glen, shut the hell up!" Maggie all but roared at the man sitting next to her. Usually it would have worked as well but given the circumstances Maggie's command had no effect on her friend.

Glen simply ignored her in favor of the man standing in front of them babbling on as if he hadn't even heard her. The days events had simply been too much for the man to handle and he'd finally cracked under the pressure. There was after all only so much a person could take before they snapped.

"Don't talk to me criminal!" Glen shouted before blinking and wobbling a little bit. He had to grad hold of the table to keep himself still. "Whoa, something in the donuts." Maggie snorted and shook her head at the sad sight that Glen presented.

"It's called sugar Glen. You only ate half the plate of donuts." Maggie turned her attention from Glen to the agent that was still standing in the room with them. He was watching them with a look of professional detachment and Maggie was sure that there was a recorder somewhere on his person taping their conversation.

"Listen to me," Maggie growled, "They downloaded a file about some old seafaring captain named Witwicky. Glen and I found it in the material that was downloaded. I have no idea what it means but if it's of importance to them then it needs to be of importance to us. I'm not a linguist but I know that Witwicky isn't Russian, or Korean, or Chinese. You have got to tell Keller about this before we end up going to war with the wrong country."

The agent in front of her didn't respond in any way. His eyes didn't move nor did his mouth twitch at what Maggie had just told him. It seemed that he cared about as much about what she'd said as about what Glen had babbled to him.

It was utterly infuriating to Maggie. It seemed that Glen cared about what she'd said about as much as the agent had. He paid neither one any attention as he searched through his pockets for a pain pill. Maggie clenched her teeth as she turned her attention towards Glen again and looked at him with a mixture of pity and contempt.

"If you throw up it had better be in a direction I ain't"

Ooo

The night was quiet as a newly done over Camaro carrying two teens and their various pokémon (only one was out of its ball) drove into the empty parking lot of the observatory on the edge of town. The Camaro rolled to a stop and both of its doors opened allowing its occupants to exit. Sam took a deep breath of the cool night air as he climbed out of the car. The area they were in was empty and he wasn't quite sure why they had stopped there.

He'd much rather have been back at the preserve checking on things there. He'd been gone far longer than he'd meant to be and he was sure that the pokémon that helped him were probably worried. He wasn't gone for unexplained amounts of time often and never had he been out so late without at least one of them knowing where he was.

At least the pokémon that were there would make sure all the other pokémon were fed while he was gone. He felt bad because none of the pokémon with him had eaten since lunch and while that was okay for Clover and Mojo it wasn't good for Orion and Yin.

The two baby pokémon were probably starving. Sadly he didn't have anything for them to eat with him which meant that they'd just have to wait a while longer for their dinner. While he didn't like having hungry pokémon with him it was something that he couldn't worry about at that moment. He had other things to focus on. Both Sam and Mikaela waited for the car's radio to offer up an informative song or clip.

They got neither. The car's radio was silent in the night. The two teens looked at each other before walking around towards the front of the car Clover hot on Sam's heels. They stood in silence for a minute or two wondering what they were supposed to be doing. Mikaela tilted her head back in order to look at the night sky. The sky was devoid of clouds and clear the stars bright and visible in the low light of the area. It was then that she saw what the alien wanted them to see.

"Sam, look." Mikaela whispered. It was almost like she was afraid that raising her voice would ruin the wonder of the moment. Feeling her wonder Sam looked up at the sky as well. Something was lighting up the clouds. It wasn't lightning of that Sam was sure for there weren't any storm clouds and it was too cool out for it to be heat lightning. No it was something else.

"That's odd." Sam murmured to himself. As they looked on, what looked like a comet struck the atmosphere and separated into four smaller pieces. It was impossible of course because comets didn't shatter when they hit the atmosphere. Maybe shatter wasn't the appropriate word. Separate seemed like a more accurate word for what the comet had done. It didn't matter much however as the four comet's (for lack of a better word) fell to the earth.

One of them struck a field maybe half a mile away if that. A tree ignited and brush was destroyed as rock and dirt geysered into the air. The ground rumbled beneath the teens feet as the piece of comet struck. Mikaela took hold of Sam's arm holding on tight. Sam reached out for one of her arms as well neither teen realizing what they were doing. Only when the comet had stopped moving did the realize what they were doing and let go of each other.

"Sorry." Mikaela said embarrassed. Sam shook his head.

"It's okay." he muttered. The two of the gazed in the general direction of where a field had just been torn up and wondered what to do. They didn't seem to realize that three other comets had were drawing attention elsewhere.

Ooo

The attention of the crowd, which had be focused on the baseball game being played below them, shifted from field to sky as something flew past their heads and crashed to the ground somewhere outside of the stadium.

Ooo

In a small café in town a group of teenagers about the same age as Sam and Mikaela were goofing around with their food. Or to be more precise two of them were goofing off and the third was filming them with a camera. Their background changed suddenly however when something massive and glowing slammed into the street.

Screams filled the café as people began to panic. The teenager holding the camera however ran through the chaos trying to film whatever had fallen to the street. His thoughts were filled with network exposure and royalty checks instead of fear.

Ooo

A sound like a thunderclap roused the small fire year old girl and her Skitty from their sleep. The girl picked up her pet as she climbed out of her bed and walked towards her window. She arrived just in time to see something splash into their pool sending water and pool toys in every direction.

The girl smiled revealing an empty space where a baby tooth had once been. Putting her Skitty on the floor she ran towards her bed and dug ender her pillow until she found the tooth that her parents had had her place there when she'd gone to bed earlier that evening.

Ooo

The amazement that Sam and Mikaela felt when the Camaro transformed back into a robot was still as strong as it had been the first time that the car had transformed. The alien turned to look at them before it began making its way towards the crash sight that was only a field or two away. Neither Sam nor Mikaela were sure if they should follow. It was only when Clover began trotting after the alien did Sam start walking.

Mikaela started following soon after. The trail they followed was lined by flaming brush and various other debris from where the comet had fallen to the ground. The ditch that it had left upon impact was impressive both in its depth and its length. The whole time they walked the yellow mech was in front of them. Nothing concealed the comet when they finally got close enough to see where it.

"You know we should probably be walking in the other direction." Mikaela said as she stepped closer to Sam. Sam shook his head slightly.

"If there had been any danger I don't think he would have let us come with him. Clover wouldn't have followed him either." Mikaela raised an eyebrow at Sam.

"Since when is this thing a he and not an it?" she asked. Sam simply shrugged and looked at the mech in question.

"I don't know but he just seems like a he to me. It's possible that he may be a she or an it but something about calling it a he feels right."

"Call it whatever you want to call it." Mikaela said as they shifted their attention from each other to the comet. Sam rubbed his temples for a moment. This was one of the few times that a headache threatened to appear when it was just him and one other person. Mikaela seemed set on being difficult.

"C'mon," he said keeping his voice at least halfway pleasant, "Don't you wanna know what he is?" Because Sam wanted to know what these things before them were any why he could seem to feel any emotions coming off of them.

"I'm curious about how a acetylene torch works too," Mikaela said her voice tense, "But I don't go sticking my nose into the flame." Frustration, tension, and fear rolled off of Mikaela.

Sam could only shake his head slightly. He wasn't going to argue with her at least not until whatever was happening actually happened and not a moment sooner. The argument between them ended abruptly as they reached the edge of the whole that the comet had caused in its fall. Embedded in the earth at the bottom of the ravine that its fall had created was a complex knot of steaming metal that dripped hot silvery beads.

Even standing a few yards away they could feel the heat that was rolling off of the object not even Clover who was more suited to higher temperatures dared to go no more than five or six feet closer than Sam and Mikaela. As the group watched the silvery beads that had been dripping down the metal retraced the paths and disappeared into the metal of the egg shaped object before them.

When the metal egg began to crack open both Sam and Mikaela moved so that they were standing behind the yellow mech that seemed to be acting as their protector. Even Clover seemed to think that it was best to be as far away from the now moving sphere of metal as possible. The group watched as what appeared to be a leg emerged from within the shell. It was soon followed by a second leg and a pair of arms.

Soon the entire shell had moved and folded into the silhouette that was now rising into the air. Watching the metal sphere turning into the being that was now rising into the air before them wasn't very different than watching pokémon eggs hatch Sam mused. If you ignored the fact that pokémon eggs didn't hatching to larger than life robots from outer space.

The silhouette stood some thirty feet tall by the time it was finished standing. Their yellow guardian remain unmoved by the sight of the other robot. In fact he had yet to move at all. It almost seemed as if he was waiting or something else to happen. Despite what he'd said earlier Sam wondered if they should start looking for some thicker trees. So that should it come to a fight between the two robots in front of them they'd have a better place to hide then behind his transformed car.

Even Clover who was never intimidated by anything (Sam had seen her go up against Onix and not be a bit nervous) seemed to feel that it wasn't wise to stand in the way of the huge mech in front of them. Sam, Mikaela, and Clover all cringed slightly when the immense form in front of them began to turn their way. It stopped however when a blast from the horn of an eighteen-wheeler tore through the air.

The mech in front of them turned towards the sound the alien mechanoid swiftly and efficiently transcanned the bid truck as it barreled by on the road hidden behind a steep incline. Neither the truck nor the driver were harmed by the action.

In fact the driver was completely unaware of the fact that anything significant had just happened to his vehicle. By the time the rig had made it a considerable distance down the road a second, identical truck was sitting in the bottom of the alien made ravine.

Ooo

The street that the small silver mech moved down was deserted. The crowd had died away with the day and so no one was there to watch as the mech made his way towards the main building of one of Tranquility's many car dealerships. Blue optics took in the vehicles that sat on either side of him as he walked through the lot always on the lookout for something that was suitable. Nothing in the lot seemed good enough and if it was it wasn't the right size.

The main building however had something in it that was more than suitable for his needs. The car that sat on one of the slowly turning turntable's on the showroom floor was perfect. Low to the ground and silver it looked fast and powerful. It was just the right size as well. Transcan beams swept over every inch of the vehicle, recording everything from the pattern made by the wheels treads to the overpriced paint.

Ooo

Curiosity had overcome good sense as a group of people gather outside of the restaurant that they'd been inside of only minutes before. Two teens followed behind the camera wielding friend as he made his way towards the area where the flaming object had touched down.

The hole that had been blasted into the side of an abandoned electronics shop was large and fiery and hard to miss. Cop cars and ambulances had already arrived on the scene by the time the three teens reached the area. The teen with the camera was sweeping the lens back and forth across the scene catching everything that was going on from the whole in the building, to the busy rescue teams and the general confusion about what had happened.

"Hey, maybe it was a meteor!" The cameraman blurted suddenly. "That kind of stuffs supposed to worth a lot of money." The teen would have put his camera aside and gone off to search for valuable fragments of space rock except that in order to do that he'd have had to get close to the still for to hot to go anywhere near the hole in building.

Around the teens, firefighters were getting hoses out and putting on protective gear in order to go inside the building. The young cameraman growled low in his throat. The firefighters were going to get all the good stuff. One of his friends pointed towards the hole in the wall.

"Look. I think there's something moving in there." The figure that the teen was pointing at was massive in size and unidentifiable. They caught only a glimpse of it before smoke began bellowing out of the hole.

"What is it?" The teen with the camera asked as he took a slow step forward. There was something coming towards them from inside of the building. All three teenagers began to back up.

"What is that?" one of the teens asked. An emergency vehicle burst forth from the smoke not seconds later, it turned a hard right and took off down the street to an unknown destination. The three teens found themselves hoping that there wasn't a passenger in the vehicle for it tilted so that it was only on two wheels for a moment.

They had no need to worry. For there was no one inside of the vehicle. In fact had anyone been able to take a closer look at it they would have found that it was an exact copy of one of the emergency vehicles that had arrived minutes before.

Ooo

The warm mist that rose from the expensive swimming pool didn't seem to bother the little girl or the Skitty that followed a few steps behind her. How her parents hadn't heard the splashing in the pool or her decent down the stars she didn't know but she was glad that they were still asleep because if they had caught her out like she was she would have gotten into trouble.

The fact that the patio that she and her little pink companion were walking on was soaking wet only seemed to fuel her excitement. A dark shape was rising up through the mist that poured from the pool as it climbed out of the water.

The little girls Skitty hissed as the water that was falling from the rising form hit the patio near it. The little kitten ran back into the house when a few drops finally managed to hit it on the head. The five year old ignored her silly pet and turned to the tall shape that had only just managed to climb out of their pool. She held one of her hands out in front of herself her palm open so that the tooth she'd been holding was visible.

"Daddy says I get five dollars but I want ten." The robot ignored her in favor of looking about its current surroundings. The first thing his optics landed on was a big black dually pickup truck parked in the neighbors driveway. Stepping around the pool the mech pushed aside a pair of fully grown trees and stepped on the fence separating the little girls property from her neighbors.

By the time the five year olds parents had managed to stumble down from their bedrooms the robot had all but disappeared. Still half asleep the adults could do nothing but stare at their ruined backyard in shock. The girls mother toed a ruined inflatable pool toy with her foot.

"Good god!" What happened to the pool?" her father asked his voice thick with shock. The little girl answered her voice holding no fear at all only disappointment.

"The tooth fairy did it." The sudden sound of a rumbling engine caused the parents to turn their attention towards the street where an expensive black GMC truck was headed towards the nearest intersection. Even in the darkness they could tell that it looked exactly like the truck that belonged to their neighbors. The truck that was still sitting in their driveway.

Ooo

None of them had any idea where they were going. In fact they'd spent most of their night fairly clueless and it seemed very likely that they would spend the rest of it that way. The secluded alleyway on the edge of town that the black and yellow Camaro pulled into sometime after they seen the big mech turn into a semi wasn't really what they were expecting.

It seemed more like a place where someone would be taken to be shot not a place to meet being from outside of their world. Sam and Mikaela sat in silence for a moment before they looked at each other.

"Should we get out?" Mikaela asked her voice slightly nervous.

"I think we have to," Sam said, "He can't change with us sitting in the front seats." Mikaela gave him a tense nod in return. The doors on either side of them popped open. It was either an invitation or a command for them to get out.

"Well lets go meet the rest of them." Sam said. He sounded much braver than he felt. For half a moment Sam wished that he hadn't returned Clover to her pokéball but she been tired the days events having taken more out of her than even she seemed willing to admit and Sam wasn't going to ignore her exhaustion even if she seemed set on doing it.

Besides it there was any danger he had Mojo and two other pokémon that were battle worthy with him. Plus he seriously doubted that the aliens intentions had changed very much in the fifteen minutes that had passed since they'd left the field full of burning brush. Mikaela stared at him for the briefest of moments before replying.

"Sure why not the hell not?" Her tone was only slightly sarcastic. She was still scared but that was okay because Sam was too. To an extent. The fact that he couldn't seem to feel any sort of emotion from the robots left him unnerved. He didn't like not knowing if the things around him meant him any harm or not.

He was far too used to knowing and not knowing felt almost wrong. But he'd find out what they wanted and if they meant him or Mikaela any harm soon enough. The sound of rumbling engines greeted them as they climbed out of the car. A quartet of vehicles each as different as the next emerged from the other end of the alleyway.

Both teens weren't very willing to go very far away from Sam's transformed car. Their refusal to move no more than three or four feet away from the yellow and black vehicle didn't matter however because no sooner had the semi neared them before Sam's car moved backwards by several feet putting plenty of space between it and the teens. Sam and Mikaela glanced at each other as the semi stopped in front of them. It was close enough that either one of the teenagers could have reached out and touched the grill.

Neither one of them did however because no sooner had it stopped before it started transforming again. Having witnessed only three similar transformations before Sam wasn't quite sure if any of the previous transformations measured up to the change that he was witnessing. As it turned out none of them were even half as grand as the towering being that stood before him and Mikaela at that moment.

The same sense wonderment filled the teens as the four other vehicles that surrounded them began the transformation process. Though after seeing the semi transform into the bipedal wonder that stood before them the transformations of the others seemed a little less grand. It was of course still impressive and Sam was sure that no mater how many times he saw the robots in front of him switch back and forth between their two forms it would remain impressive.

It was almost like watching a pokémon evolve. It was something that you'd want to see again and again. Looking up at the various robots around them Sam and Mikaela watched as the aliens glowing blue optics began to glow a little brighter. It was as if some soft of internal process had begun. Unknown to the two teens the four newly arrived robot had just picked up the nearest Wi-Fi broadcast and went online.

As the two watched on the mechs proceeded to download every useful piece of information off of the internet. It didn't take them very long at all. When their search for knowledge was finished the read and blue mech that had been the semi bent down so that his head was almost level with Sam and Mikaela. The voice that emerged from the mech was deep and carried an air of command. It was also carefully muted so that its owner didn't frighten those that he was speaking with.

"Are you Samuel James Witwicky? Biological descendant of Archibald Witwicky?"

"Yeah." Sam said in a quiet voice. He half wondered if he should have responded at all because the memory of the last thing that had wanted to know if he was someone that was being looked for was still sharp in his mind. He did however doubt that the being before him was going to kill him like the other one had seemed determined to do. It didn't really matter anyways because he'd already replied.

"I am Optimus Prime." the robot said introducing itself.

"It's nice to meet you. I guess." Sam said.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." Optimus said as if Sam hadn't spoken.

"Or you can call us Autobots for short." Sam and Mikaela turned to look at the chartreuse robot that transformed from the Hummer that had just spoken.

"Autobots?" Mikaela muttered lowly. Optimus nodded in confirmation then made a gesture with his hand at the silver robot that had been the sports car.

"My first lieutenant, designation: Jazz." The silver mech twisted around in a move hat looked like it had been taken from a music video before standing up straight and crossing his arms.

"What's crack'n little bitches?" Jazz asked. The sudden change from the almost regal voice of Optimus Prime to the street wise voice of Jazz was an almost unexpected change.

"How'd he learn to talk like that?" Sam asked.

"We have assimilated Earth's languages from your 'world wide web'. We did this not long ago. It wasn't very hard. While the information was extensive, the underlying conceptualizations are quite undemanding." Sam and Mikaela both blinked and looked at each other. Sam had to wonder if Optimus knew that they'd only understood like half of what the mech had just said.

If Optimus did he didn't show any signs. He merely continued were he had left off. "My weapons specialist: Ironhide." This time Optimus pointed towards the thickly armored black form that had been the black GMC truck.

"Are you feeling lucky punks?" Ironhide asked as the two cylinder shaped objects on his arms spun around like a cowboy rotating his gun around his finger. The end of each one was glowing ominously. One glowed blue and the other glowed orange. Mikaela cringed back. Sam however didn't.

He'd face many things in his life time that had meant him harm and while he'd just shoved the maws of his cannons in their faces Ironhide didn't mean them any harm whatsoever. He was just showing off.

"Easy Ironhide." Optimus rebuked. Ironhide snorted. "I just wanted to show them my cannons." Optimus said nothing in reply to Ironhide's statement. Instead he turned his attention to the mech that had been the emergency hummer.

"Our medical officer: Ratchet." The medic said nothing to them. Instead a scan ran almost instantly over both Sam and Mikaela. While there was nothing to be felt by the scan both Sam and Mikaela shivered as if someone had just walked across their graves. "I am pleased to inform you both that judging by your species inadequate standards both of you are perfectly healthy." Ratchet said. Though his tone of voice gave the teens the impression that they weren't healthy enough by his standards.

"Thanks. I guess." Mikaela said as she eyed the medic. She was quite sure that their current state of health wasn't any of his business. Ratchet's scan had left her feeling invaded somehow and she wasn't very keen on being scanned again though she had the feeling that both she and Sam probably would be scanned again whither they wanted to be or not. Sam on the other hand didn't seem to mind the momentary invasion of his person at all. He simply acted as if it hadn't happened.

In truth Sam was half amazed that the medical robot hadn't said anything about his empathic abilities. He'd been told that the part of his brain that controlled his ability was visible on just about every sort of brain scan available. It was possible of course that the alien might have just been scanning their bodies and not their brains.

In all accounts though it didn't really matter because he was sure that they'd find out about his little skill sooner or later. As the teens attention turned from Ratchet back to Optimus the large mech gestured at the one remaining member of their group. By now both teens were more than familiar with the yellow and black form standing next to them.

"You've already meat you guardian and our scout: Bumblebee."

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Muhammad Ali's voice sounded from Bumblebee's internal speakers as the mech nodded his head vigorously. The lack of a spoken response caused Mikaela to ask Optimus a question.

"If you and the other can talk then why can't he?" she asked. It was Ratchet who answered.

"His vocal processors were badly damaged in battle. I have yet to be able to fix them completely. It is only a matter of time however." Sam and Mikaela nodded in understanding.

"Why are you here?" Sam asked.

"We are here looking for the Allspark and we must find it before Megatron and his Decepticons." Sam wasn't sure why but Megatron's name sent a shiver across his spine. The name sounded dangerous.

"Mega-who?" Mikaela asked. When Optimus next spoke there was regret in his voice.

"He was once my brother but he lost his way. He lusted for power and sought to keep the Allspark for himself. He became obsessed with controlling everything. Eventually he turned those that he was able to dominate against those that he could not. Those who were once builders became destroyers and those who at one time were protectors became killers. We named those who betrayed everything that we had once stood for Decepticons. Eventually war broke out amongst our different side and in time our battles consumed the entire planet."

From somewhere on the mechs helmet a three dimensional projection was displayed. The scene was that of an alien war held on an alien world composed of metal and other metallic based materials. Everywhere there was fire, smoke, and death. Nothing had been left untouched for miles upon miles.

The ground was littered with body parts from the aliens own species. The view shifted so that they were no longer looking at a war torn landscape. Instead they were looking at a silver mech. This mech was nothing like Jazz however. The silver armor that covered the mechs body was all sharp edges and deadly claws.

Even though it was only an image the being that they were looking at still seemed to radiate malice. The silver mech was standing over the much smaller form of a downed Autobot. Sam and Mikaela watched, horrified, as the silver beast plunged its hand into the smaller mechs chest and pulled out a sputtering sphere of blue white energy.

The sphere flickered for a few moments before the blue white energy died. The Autobot on the ground followed soon after. The pure straightforwardness of the action and the fact that apparently the being who had done it didn't care at all was enough to make both teens wince, cringe and step backwards. The thing in the image was a hundred thousand times worse than anything that the human race had to offer.

"For eon's the war in which we fought was locked in a stalemate. Neither side gaining the upper hand against the other. The constant fighting exhausted our reserves of energy and nearly caused the extinction of our entire race. The few who remained finally decided that the only way to put an end to the fighting was to leave."

As Optimus's sentence trailed to an end the silver figure that could only be Megatron gave a bellow of triumph before the image faded and disappeared.

It was Ironhide that continued. "Only the Allspark can bring our race back from the brink of extinction. For only it can give life to Transformers. That is why Megatron wishes to obtain it. Of with the Allspark he would finally posses the absolute power over our race that he desires."

Optimus once again continued speaking. "In an attempt to keep the Allspark out of Megatron's clutches we set it adrift in space. Since then I and my companions as well as Megatron and his ilk have been scouring the stars in an attempt to find it. We have finally succeeded in tracing it to your planet."

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other. Everything they were being told almost didn't seem real. Things like this happened to other people, not to high school students. But then again that always seemed to be the case in books and movies. Teenagers charged with saving the world from some evil villain. Only thing time it was real no matter how unreal it seemed.

"When the Allspark landed her it sent out a single signal. Megatron was the first to receive the signal as he followed it not long after the Allspark was cast from Cybertron and he followed it here. Only by an extreme stroke of luck was Megatron's arrival on your planet imperfect and in one of few places that could hold him. He fell victim to this planets ever shifting ice." Sam's eyes widened as realization smacked him in the back of the head with all the force of an annoyed Machamp.

"The Iceman. So my great-great grandpa wasn't as off his rocker as everyone thought he was." Now that their was more to them than another family tragedy Sam was considering keeping all of Archibald's stuff even if it was still only junk to him.

"Indeed." Ratchet responded. "Unfortunately for your ancestor his discovery of and subsequent physical encounter with Megatron triggered a tiny part of Megatron's hitherto dormant internal tracking device."

"According to your planets records," Jazz continued, "While the blast from Megatron's systems destroyed you ancestors sight it left a coded physical imprint as well."

Sam blinked. "What do you mean it left a coded physical imprint?" Sam asked because he'd never seen anything on his great-great- grandpa's belongings to hint at any sort of code and he'd looked them over good when he'd been listing things about them on eBay for whomever might have wanted to trade with him.

"The code was imprinted on his glasses." Optimus supplied.

"How do you know about his glasses?" Sam asked confused because really the monster cop had been asked about the glasses too. At lest now he knew why they seemed so fixated on the cracked pair of spectacles.

"eBay." Ironhide informed them.

"eBay." Sam mumbled to himself. It made sense of course because the cop car had mentioned his eBay page to.

"The Allspark is still here on you world but we can no longer detect it's signal. Something is blocking it." Jazz said as he shifted a foot ever so slightly.

"Do you know what's blocking it?" Mikaela asked. She was trying her best to keep up with the conversation being held between her and Sam and the four robots surrounding them. Bumblebee being unable to simply stood to the side making gestures and letting the others explain their current situation.

"We don't know but once we manage to find it we will return it to our homeworld." Ratchet sounded a bit sorrowful as he spoke but there was also an acute sense of hope in his tone as well. "If the Decepticons reach it first however they will use it to rebuild their army by using it to transform Earth's machines. Once that process is completed there will be no need for your world to continue to provide support its current forms of life. Megatron would see to it that nothing on this world survived." Optimus said.

Sam blinked as what Optimus had just said sank in completely. Global extinction of everything didn't sound like a good thing at all but Sam knew that it wouldn't be as easy a task to accomplish as Optimus made it sound.

There was more than their technology to take into account because they didn't use only technology in their everyday lives and to defend themselves. The Autobots weren't taking the worlds population of pokémon into account because even if it came down to the Decepticons trying to eradicate everything organic on the planet they'd have to get past the Legendaries and every other species of pokémon in order to do it.

Sam wondered if the Transformers (as Ironhide had called them) really understood the difference between animals and pokémon because even with the information that they'd gotten off of the internet it seemed like they didn't. Bumblebee at least should have understood having seen the pokémon around the preserve the day before and having been there for the battle that he and Mikaela had waged against the little spider bot though he had been fighting a battle of his own.

Not that their understanding really mattered because even if they didn't at the moment Sam knew that by the time everything was done and over with that they'd understand. They merely had to realize the difference between animals and pokémon. Mikaela's voice broke through his uncertain thoughts about the Autobots understanding of their world.

"Please tell me you still have those glasses."

Ooo

The interior of the C-17 was large. Large enough to carry cargo and passenger and pokémon while they were out of their pokéballs so long as they weren't to large or so long as their weren't to many out of their balls at one time. Among the latter was a team of Special Ops straight out of Qatar.

Lennox and his men were currently using the available time to take the allowed break from the duties that they would be forced to resume upon arrival to the States. A few of the soldiers were taking the chance to talk quietly amongst themselves but mostly they were taking the chance to rest. Further up in the belly of the plane a team of a different sort was bent over a table that was half surgery table and half of a mechanics shop.

The specialists that made up the team ranged from those able to sew up a body with ease to those who could take apart and put back together anything of the mechanical nature no nature what it was. All of them were currently bent over a piece of severed tail that had at one time belonged Skorponok.

The tail was slowly but surly repairing itself. It was a process that had every single man and woman on the team of specialists stumped like they had never been stumped before. None of them had even half a clue about how the piece of machinery was doing what it was because outside of certain pokémon (who still needed available materials to repair themselves) what was going on before them was imposable.

"Unbelievable. It's like some sort of self regenerating armor. Not even Magnezone or Electrode are able to repair themselves like this. They need metal to replace what's been destroyed." said the lead specialist.

Drawn by the conversation Lennox and his men slowly began working their way over towards the table where the severed piece of tail lay. Having been the one's to recover the tail in the first place they had been granted unlimited access to it during the dissection.

Lennox was the first member of the group to actually reach the table. He eyed the tail with a look of wonder and hate.

"The scorch marks show where the sabot round hit. Melted right through." Lennox pointed out as he ran a single finger alone the hole that had been burnt through the severed end of the tail. The leaser of the research team nodded his head as he reached over to grab a magnifying glass. He swung the glass object over the hole so that the area was enlarged.

As Lennox looked through the magnifier he noticed that the hole that had been burnt into the armor was different than the rest. It was the only part that wasn't regenerating. The lead researcher confirmed what he'd seen.

"It's the only part of the appendage that isn't regenerating." That little bit of information gave Lennox something to ponder.

"Aren't sabot rounds hot loaded to a six-thousand degree magnesium burn?" Lennox asked.

"They melt tank armor." Epps said as he wandered over to stand next to Lennox. "An explosive round would generate similar heat, but not for very long. But I think a mag burn would linger where it hit and stay hot for a lot longer. It might just stay hot long enough to do damage to whatever the hell this thing is made of." Epps continued. He was about to say more but was interrupted as the tail moved suddenly.

The tip of the tail seemed to leap upwards and them it slammed down so that the sharp tip went right through the table it had been laying on. Both soldiers and researchers were startled enough that they either leapt or stumbled backwards. One poor woman fell down completely and had to be pulled away from the table incase the tail decided that it wanted to move again.

There wasn't any need to worry for the danger had already passed and the tail had gone completely limp again. At least it was still for the moment. No one knew if it would decide that it wanted to jerk around again at a later time.

"Please tell me that that was the electric current added to a dead muscle twitch thing." Epps said as he eyed the now still piece of alien. His dark eyes watched the tail as if it might start moving again. Lennox turned towards the staring tech sergeant and spoke in an urgent voice.

"Epps get on the horn to Northern Command and I don't care if you have to use smoke signals to do it. We've gotta let them know that high heat sabot rounds are our weapon of choice. Recommend that they load um on anything that'll handle um. Let them know that high powered electric attacks can help slow um down. Hell for all we know if we get enough strong electric types together and attack these things we might just be able to kill them or at least slow them down."

Epps nodded and hurried off to find the nearest working communicator. As soon as Epps was gone the medical officer that had been waiting for them to stop talking stepped forward. Lennox recognized him as one of the medic's that had been working on Fig.

The man didn't speak. There was no need for him to not after he looked at Lennox and shook his head. The man's expression was grave and there was no need for words to pass between them for Lennox to know what the news about his friend was. Without a word of his own Lennox turned and rushed towards the front of the plane.

Fig was laying on a bed in the temporary infirmary that was currently housing injured soldiers from both the fight against Scorponok and the few that had survived the attack on the base and been left there. The medical staff had man the Spanish man as comfortable as possible. Despite what Lennox was sure was their best efforts Fig didn't look comfortable at all. He look really bad. He looked like he was dying.

Considering all the treatment that he'd received since they'd left that wasn't a good thing. There was one small measure of comfort however in the fact that someone had been smart enough to let Xiuhte out of his ball. The Flareon was currently laying beside Fig his head resting on the injured man's chest while Fig ran his fingers along its back.

Lennox knew that the movement was more for Fig's comfort than for Xiuhte's because the grey eyes that looked at him when he stepped behind the curtain told of a suffering that had only just started. As Lennox stepped into Fig's view he hoped that the smile he'd managed to put on his face was encouraging.

"Hey, amigo. Qué pasa?" Fig didn't respond immediately. It looked like he was fighting something beyond both his and the medic's control. Each word that left them man's mouth seemed to require a separate effort to get it to leave. Xiuhte whined softly and nudged Fig slightly in encouragement as the man spoke.

"If I hadn't seen it for myself. I never would have believes the crazy stuff going on." Fig's gaze was unfocused as he looked at Lennox. "You have to promise me that you're gonna stop these things man." Lennox tried his best to ignore the weak tone in his friends voice or the way his sentences were slowly spoken. He was trying his best to ignore the truth of the situation.

"Once your out of this damn bed and out in the field again you can stop 'em yourself. Ain't that right Xiuhte?"

"Eon Flar." Lennox took the Flareon's cry to be encouraging even though it almost didn't sound it. Fig ignored the pairs optimism because all three of them knew that he was dying and there was nothing that could be done about it. Fig knew that both Captain and pokémon were lying.

"Please, you have to promise me." The warrant officer was being as insistent as his current condition would allow. There was strength in his voice however as he tried to get the man before him to make the promise.

"I don't want to die for nothing Lennox. Not with sand in my boots…." Lennox tried to protest again but he wasn't able to. There was a lot to be said and not enough time to say what he needed too.

"Promise," Fig tried again and made a gesture with his hand. At the movement Lennox leaned closer to his friend and saw for the first time that he was holding something small and shiny in his hand. Lennox opened his hand so that Fig could place the item he was holding into his palm. It was the silver Jirachi medallion that Fig always wore around his neck.

The medallion was usually hidden underneath his shirt in order to protect it from the sun and sand. As soon as the medallion was pressed firmly into Lennox's hand Fig's eye's closed. It was impossible for Lennox to tell if his friend had been hurting when he'd died.

Lennox could tell by the whine's and whimpers coming from Xiuhte that the Flareon obviously was. The pokémon had buried its head in Fig's neck. Anyone that had seen Lennox's face at that moment would have known that the captain was.

Ooo

The drive back to the preserve was quiet and uneventful and for that Sam was thankful. The nights events so far were still running circles in his head as he tried to wrap his brain around everything he'd been told by the Autobots. The front gates of the preserve had never looked so welcome before. Mikaela's shocked gasp as they opened on their own was enough to make him smile.

"How?" she asked as they drove through. Sam laughed.

"I have a psychic type that stays near the gates and opens them for people. It's to dark out for you to see him right now or else I'd point him out to you." Sam said. Mikaela 'ohhed' and turned so that she was looking out of her window.

She'd been to the Morning Star Pokémon Preserve only once or twice before and that had been when she was very young. The only thing she could really remember was from her childhood was a large field full of booths and stalls. It had been some sort of festive or something and her parents had taken her.

She wasn't even sure if the festival still went on. It felt odd being in a place she didn't even half remember. While she could only see what Bumblebee's lights illuminated there was still quite a bit to look at. The road they were driving up seemed ridiculously long and it was lined on either side with thick trunked trees.

Every once in awhile she was able to make out what looked like a field in between tree trunks. Sam was quiet as he sat beside her and let her take in what she could in the dark.

"My parents brought me here when I was little." Mikaela said. She felt almost like she needed to start some sort of conversation. It seemed odd that Sam was so quiet about his home.

"Most people have been. A lot of our classmates got their first pokémon here. Or they used to come when my parents would hold the Fall and Spring Festivals." Sam looked at her as he spoke. "We stopped holding it here two years before my grandpa got sick."

Mikaela winced slightly when she remembered that Sam lived on the preserve by himself with nothing but his pokémon to keep him company. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit a sore spot." Mikaela apologized.

Sam gave her a crocked smile and shook his head. "It's okay. You didn't mean anything by it."

And she hadn't not really she'd just been making conversation. Seeing that Sam wasn't mad at her Mikaela decided that it was safe to ask him something else. Minus the sore spot in conversation.

"Why's your house so far away from the front gate?" Sam smiled and shook his head.

"I have no idea. I asked my grandpa once and not even he knew. I think it was a tradition or something from when the house was first built. At least that's my opinion about it." Sam said. He sounded as amused by her question as Mikaela herself was.

Mikaela found herself laughing lightly. "I guess if you want to make a good impression then a long driveway's one way to do it."

Sam nodded in agreement as Bumblebee slowed to a stop. They had arrived at their destination. As the two teens climbed out of the car Mikaela took the chance to get a good look at Sam's house. The home was illuminated by the Autobots headlights.

The house was two stories tall and white in color. The front porch stretched from one end of the front of the house to the other. The whole porch was fenced in by white wooden banisters and there was a porch swing at one end and a table and chairs at another.

There were even large flowerbeds running along both sides that started at the front porch steps and ended several yards past the actual house on either side. The more Mikaela looked at the house the more she couldn't place the building design. It wasn't Colonial and it didn't seem like it might have originated from the country.

The house was a mish mosh of styles all put together into something that looked homey and inviting. "Okay you guys stay here and wait for like fifteen minutes while I find the glasses." Mikaela turned her attention from the house to Sam, who was letting the Autobots know the plan in hopes that they'd be good robots and stay in the driveway while they were in the house. Mikaela wished him the best of luck.

While Sam talked Mikaela took the chance to walk up the stairs and look around the porch. Sadly there wasn't much more to be seen from her new position. The only thing her new perspective granted her the right off seeing were the scratches and burn marks on the porch's wood. The sound of feet on steps caused her to turn and look at Sam, who was making his way onto the porch as well.

"Your house is big." Mikaela said as she turned to look at Sam. He looked slightly frustrated but also slightly satisfied. She took that to mean that his little pow wow with the robots had gone well.

"It's an old house." Sam shrugged his shoulders. It was quite apparent that he didn't actually think about the size of his house all that often.

"Shall we head inside?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Mikaela said. She wanted to see the rest of his house or at least as much of it as he'd let her see. Sam smiled at her again before he reached out and opened the front door.

"You didn't lock your door when you left?" Mikaela asked as she gave Sam a look that clearly stated that she though he was an idiot. Sam merely looked amused and shook his head.

"Only an idiot would try and steel anything from this house. There are so many pokémon around here that even if they did manage it they wouldn't get away and that's only if they could get past the front gate."

"So your saying that your house is insanely safe." Mikaela said as the pair stepped into the dark house.

"More or less." Sam said as he flipped the lights on and closed the door behind them. "Are you hungry?" Sam asked. The question was so unexpected that Mikaela almost didn't answer.

"I guess." The fact that her stomach growled not long after went unnoticed by neither teen.

"I told them to wait for fifteen minutes so that we could grab something to eat real fast. I haven't eaten since breakfast and I figured that you hadn't eaten since lunch and its like eleven o'clock now. So while I go get the glasses you can fix something to eat and I'll join you in a few minutes."

Mikaela thought about the offer for a minute. She really was hungry and by the way Sam was talking he knew where the glasses were and all he needed to do was go grab them. Though it almost seemed like he didn't want her poking around upstairs or something. It was possible of course. She was feeling more than a little curious and was more than ready to go poking around in any room that she could get into.

"Sure I could eat. Just point me to the kitchen." Fulfilling her request Sam pointed towards a room that sat beside the living room. The two rooms were divided by a wall and the doorway wasn't really a doorway for there was no door but an arch cut into the wood.

"The light switch is on the left side. The bottom shelf in the fridge has soda and water and the bottom crisper has lunch meat and cheese in it. The utility drawer in beside the sink and cups are in the cabinet to the right. Plates are in the cabinet next to the cups. Did you get all that?" Sam asked after his long explanation. It took Mikaela a movement before she nodded.

"I got it now go get the glasses so we can eat and get out of here. I want this night to be done and over with already," Sam gave Mikaela another smile though this time it was slightly sad and somewhat pittying. Sam had no intention of letting Mikaela know that their adventure was nowhere near complete at least not yet.

No there was a lot more to their adventure than met the eye and Sam had a feeling that they were in it for the whole thing. He watched for a moment as Mikaela made her way towards the kitchen. Hopefully making something to eat would keep her from snooping around. The last thing he needed was for her to wake up the pokémon sleeping in the nursery.

He doubted that Tilly and Thatch would appreciate being woken up after they'd had to do his job all day long. He'd have been mad if he were them. He couldn't focus on that at the moment however because he needed to get up to his room and grab the glasses.

Then he was going to fix something for Orion and Yin to eat and if he was lucky he'd have enough time to eat to before they had to get the glasses to the Autobots. Sam's feet pounded softly on the carpeted stairs as he made his way up to his room. Things were changing again and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

The Autobots seemed alright. They seemed like they could be trusted and that they were good. But a part of him remembered the Decepticon (for it could have only been a Decepticon) that had thrown him into the car underneath the overpass and had had murder in its blood red optics. With the Autobots came the Decepticons and the threat that they possessed.

For having known them for only a few hours he knew that they could be trusted and that after everything was over he would be thanked for whatever small part he played in the events that were to take place before they left for their homeworld. That was of course so long as the Decepticons didn't get to the Allspark first.

The Autobots were a risk not only to him, no he could live with his own life being in danger because it was always in danger with his job, but the chance that they would be a danger to the pokémon on the preserve was what bothered him the most. Nothing scared him more than something putting the pokémon he cared for in danger.

Reaching out into the darkness of his room Sam's hand ran along the wall until his fingers touched the light switch. Pale light filled the room seconds later as the light flickered on. His room was neat even though his bed was unmade. It would however take him a minute or two to dig the glasses out of the box they were in. A loud crash from outside of the house caused Sam to jump and run towards one of the windows that lined his room.

Sam wasn't sure if the sight that met him when he looked outside should have surprised him or not. For milling about his backyard were five alien robots. They'd sat in the front drive all of four and a half minutes before deciding that it was time to get up and move around. Yanking one of the windows open Sam didn't quite yell at the mechs outside.

"Could you guys make a little more noise? I don't think you woke the baby pokémon sleeping in the nursery." Sam wasn't sure if he wanted to know where the crashing noise had come from or not. He would avoid looking down at the robots feet if it killed him because the last thing he needed to see was a section of the nursery's pen destroyed under large feet. Five pairs of blue optics fixed on him almost immediately.

"We must have the glasses." Optimus said his tone urgent. Sam had to swallow back the first response that popped in his head.

"I know but could you guys at least give me enough time to get them and get something to eat. You've been looking for eons a few more minutes won't kill you and I swear that if you wake up the pokémon in the nursery not even the Legendaries will save you." Sam ended his sentence with an annoyed growl as he stared down the alien robots that had invaded his backyard.

Not waiting to see if his orders were followed Sam turned and made his way towards the closet and the box sitting within. The glasses were inside the box all he had to do was get them and then he could go feed Yin and Orion and get himself something to eat as well. The closet door squeaked terribly as he opened it and the light flickered wildly when he pulled the cord.

The desired box was sitting on one of the shelves in the back of the closet. It took Sam a matter of seconds to dig the desired glasses out of their box and before he knew it he was making his way back downstairs and toward the kitchen.

Mikaela was seated at the table eating what looked like a ham sandwich and chips. "Did you get them?" she asked as he walked into the room.

Sam nodded and held up the glasses before stuffing them in a pocket and making his way over to the fridge. He needed to get some food for Yin and to fix a bottle for Orion.

"Ya, I got them. Unfortunately however the Autobots don't seem to have the ability to wait." Mikaela blinked and looked up at him from her sandwich.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Sam turned so that he was facing her direction and shook his head.

"They're milling around in my backyard at the moment or at least they were a minute or two ago."

"Impatient much?"

"Very." Sam said as he gathered the ingredients needed to make a bottle for Orion. He could get Yin's food while the bottle was heating up in the microwave. Mikaela watched Sam move around the kitchen with interest.

She wasn't quite sure what he was doing but from where she was sitting it almost looked like he was getting ready to make something other than a sandwich to eat. Her suspicions were confirmed when he pulled a bottle from a cabinet followed by a canister of what might have just been some sort of baby formula. It was then that she decided that she had to ask.

"What are you making?"

"Bottle for Orion." Sam said not even sparing her a glance as he worked on putting powder and milk into the bottle and soon after began shaking the bottle in order to mix up what was inside.

"Orion?" Mikaela asked. Sam nodded.

"Yup. He hasn't eaten since lunch and neither has Yin but she's past the bottle stage." Mikaela was confused. Mainly because she had no idea who Orion or Yin were though she could only assume that they were pokémon on Sam's team. Not that she was sure because other than Clover the only pokémon Sam had that she knew about was an Arcanine.

Mikaela was about to ask for more of an explanation only to be stopped by the sound of someone of something pounding on the living room door. The sound caused both teens to turn and look towards the living room. Putting down the bottle that he'd been vigorously shaking Sam started making his way towards the living room.

Mikaela put down her food and began following behind him. For a moment he wondered if it was the Autobots in some way but that theory was shot down as soon as he was close enough to feel the emotions that were rolling off of the person on the other side of the door. The only thing he was getting was a sense of urgency and slight annoyance.

"Who the Hell?" Mikaela asked as the person on the other side of the door began pounding again after a brief moment of silence.

"I have no idea." Sam said as he reached the door. Reaching out he grasped the handle and pulled. The man on the other side of the door had a hand raised like he was going to knock again. He looked quite stupid with his arm hanging in the air doing nothing. Realizing that the door had opened the black haired man in front of Sam put his arm down and addressed him directly.

"Are you Sam Wickity?" he asked. Sam blinked and didn't answer. Instead his attention was drawn to the men and women he could just barley see due to the man standing in front of him. He couldn't tell how many people there were but he knew that there were quiet a few.

They were walking around his front yard holding devices that were making an annoying beeping noise.

"I'm Agent Simmons. I'm with the government: Sector Seven." Simmons continued, flashing a badge that neither Sam nor Mikaela recognized in their faces before tucking it away in his suit again.

"I've never heard of it." Sam said truthfully.

"And you never will." Simmons informed him. If almost seemed like the man before him expected Sam and Mikaela to forget about what he said upon command or something

"Are you the great-great-grandson of Captain Archibald Wickity are you not?"

"It's Witwicky?" Sam said making sure to annunciate his last name. "And ya he was my great-great-grandpa. Why?" Simmons merely nodded his head and ignored his question.

"You filed a stolen car report last night didn't you?" Simmons asked. Sam growled in response.

"Maybe." he answered. If Simmons didn't see fit to answer any of his questions then he wasn't going to answer Simmons's questions with anything useful. Simmons raised his eyebrows at Sam's half assed answer and smirked in amusement.

"I can play this game to kid so just answer the question."

"Ya, I filed a stolen car report but that was only because those fucking Haunter decided to take it out for a joyride and haven't returned it yet. What does it matter to you? How the hell did you even get past the front gate?" Sam's hand twitched and moved towards his belt.

If Simmons didn't get off the preserve soon Sam was going to force him off because government agent or not he was still trespassing on private property. "Your cars involved in a national security matter and as for how we got in. Well lets just say that we got the best of your doorman."

Sam's body tensed at Simmons words. He was more than willing to cause bodily harm in order to get the man standing in front of him out of his home. The fact that he'd gone and hurt one of the pokémon that lived on the preserve only made him more willing to get violent. Sam was about to say something but the sudden arrival of one of the men that had been moving around the front yard stopped him before he could even get started.

"We have massive hits sir." The man said as he passed something to Simmons. Simmons nodded and turned back towards Sam and Mikaela.

"I need both of you to step forward." The order rolled off of his tongue with such ease that for a moment Sam could have sworn that the man before him didn't have any emotions. When nether Sam nor Mikaela made any move to step forward Simmons huffed and stepped closer to them.

Before Sam could object to what he was about to so Simmons had already ran a glowing wand across his face. The device that the wand was attached to started ticking almost immediately. The smile that split the mans face at that moment was actually quite disturbing.

"Fourteen rads. Tag 'em and bag 'em."

Those words seemed to cause a flood of agents to appear out of nowhere. Men in black suits pushed their way past Simmons and before either Sam or Mikaela could go for their pokéballs the teens hands were being forced behind their backs. The two teens were forced out of the house and towards a line of black vans.

Their protests fell on death ears and it seemed as of no amount of threats or creative cursing could get the men that had them to let go. As Sam and Mikaela were forced into a van neither them nor the agents the were climbing into their own vehicles were aware of the five pairs of alien optics that were watching them.

Oooooo

Sorry about the wait guys. I actually had most of this chapter done on Thanksgiving and much to my joy I managed to make 50000 words. I would have uploaded then but I wasn't at a good place to stop and you guys deserved more than me stopping in the middle of a scene. I had hoped to update last week but it didn't happen. Sadly I think between NaNoWriMo and Black Friday it took me like a week to recover. I spent a lot of time last week sleeping and trying to recover because I was exhausted completely and totally. So here's the chapter that should have been posted a lot sooner.

I'm sorry if the scene with Sam's house lacked but there didn't really seem like a lot I could do considering Sam's lack of parents. I'm of the opinion that the entire bedroom scene in the movie was just done so that Sam could be embarrassed with his parents.

Oh and just so that you guys know the trialer for transformers 3 is out.

Poke'mon Teams (pokémon new to this chapter)

Fig's Team

Xiuhte - Flareon


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Pentagon intelligence center was a hive of movement with people running back and forth as busy as a hive of Combee. If the Pentagon had indeed been a hive of Combee then Keller would have been their Vespiquen. The man's eyes were currently locked onto one of the largest screens of the many that were scattered throughout the room. The Brigadier that approached him looked just a tired s he felt. Neither man had gotten much sleep since the whole ordeal that they were currently in had started.

"Blue force tracker has Chinese and U.S. navel attack forces approaching within one hundred nautical miles of each others cruise missile range." the man murmured. This was the type of situation that he had hoped he'd never have to deal with. Keller merely nodded keeping his eyes locked on the screen in front of him. There were so many thing riding on the decision that he and a few other would have to make and he dreaded making the wrong decision. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment that to spare the lives that might be lost at his command.

"Tell the commander to wait for orders from Washington. He isn't to engage under any circumstances unless they are fired upon first." The Brigadier nodded and proceeded to disappear in the flurry of activity that was taking place behind Keller. He was replaced moments later by another one of his men and a Suit that he didn't recognize. The man had a Jolteon standing by his side that was so tense that it looked like it was ready to jump into a battle.

"Sir, this is Tom Banachek, from the White House."

With his free hand, for the other was handcuffed to a briefcase, Banachek reached inside of his pocket in order to flash his identification. " Mr. Secretary. I'm with Sector Seven- Advanced Research Division."

Keller glanced at the man and frowned. " Never heard of it. Of you don't mind, Tom, whatever brought you here can be referred to me through the usual channels. I'm a little busy now. As I'm sure you can see." Banachek wasn't put out by Keller's reply at all for he had received many like it before.

"We are a highly independent extra-governmental entity, sir. I'm here under direct order from the president." Pausing for a moment Banachek made a motion to indicate the room around them at large.

"Verbal only in here, I'm afraid. Much about Sector Seven takes place in the absence of written records. I've been instructed by the president to brief you." The entire time that Banachek had spoken his face had remained the same. It was almost like he was an emotionless man. Well, man and pokémon, for his Jolteon hadn't moved an inch since the two of them had stopped moving. Keller sighed in annoyance before speaking.

"You want to brief me now? With everything else that going on? And what in the good lord's name are you supposed to be briefing me on?" Keller made a gesture towards the monitor that he'd been looking at before in a attempt to get the situation across to the man beside him. Before Banachek was able to reply however, the information being shown on the screen was replaced by a beeping noise and a visible FAILURE notification. It took no more than a minute for every other screen in the room to show the exact same thing that the first screen was showing. The noise in the room changed abruptly as people around the room began to panic. Unable to do anything more than stare at the unfolding disaster Keller spoke into his headphone mike.

"What's happening?" Keller's voice began to rise in slight panic. "Somebody talk to me . I need a sit rep- stat." The general that had reported to him earlier looked like he was close to completely panicking. It wasn't something that Keller needed to see given their current situation.

"Communications are down. The virus or whatever it was has shut us down completely. The thing was coded to shut us down. Our firewall people thought that they had a handle on it but they were wrong."

"What d'you mean 'shut us down'?" Keller asked as he looked at the man. The general gulped before speaking.

"It corrupted the entire system while hiding itself from us. We thought that we'd had it quarantined, but it was in the background the entire time. It used our network to spread everywhere. The blackout's global. Satellite and landlines are dead. The internet's down. At the moment we have no communication whatsoever either locally or internationally." Keller knew that he needed to say something. The problem was that he couldn't seem to think of anything to say.

And even if he could think of something to say, apparently the only people who would hear him were the people that were in the room with him. His disbelief didn't vanish until he had tried his own cell phone and found that it didn't work. Unlike the Secretary of Defense however, Banachek had something to say. He hefted the briefcase that he was cuffed to and spoke in an urgent tone.

"Sir, you need to see what I have in here- now."

Ooo

A series of black SUV's swept through Tranquility. In the back seat of the lead vehicle Sam and Mikaela sat. Simmons, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was ignoring both teens in favor of talking to someone on his phone.

"Simmons here. We're code black, I've got the kid. I need…" Simmons went silent as his phone went dead. Looking at the screen the older man was greeted with the words 'No Signal'. Shaking his head in slight annoyance Simmons proceeded to turn his attention from his phone to Sam and Mikaela.

"So Mr. Wikity. Care to tell me about how your car went missing. I want to know everything that happened." Sam tensed slightly. He wasn't telling Simmons anything about the Autobots no matter what the man asked.

"It was a group of Haunter that took my car out for a joyride. They can do that you know."

"I'm sure they can," Simmons said, " but I'm not interested in Haunter kid. I want to know the truth about what happened. Every juicy little detail and I want to know now." Sam eyed Simmons for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.

"There's nothing more to it. They took my car for a joyride, I called Jenny and filed a report. As far as I know the Haunter are still driving the thing around." Simmons growled at Sam's answer. The kid was good he'd give him that much but he wasn't anywhere near the level that he was used to working with.

"What do you know about aliens?" Simmons asked, switching tactic's. If he couldn't get the kid to spill about his missing car then he'd see if he could trick the two of them into saying something by accident. Sadly his plain failed before it even made it into the open air.

"There an urban legend. You know like the Feraligatr in the sewers of New York." Mikaela answered with ease. Sam smiled slightly. He was glad that Mikaela seemed willing to take his side and not tell the creeps that had taken them anything. It was clear by the look on her face and the determination that was strong as steel in her emotions that she didn't trust the Sector Seven men anymore than he did.

Sam wasn't quite sure what it was about the man that had him on edge. It could have had something to do with the fact that he'd taken Dorian out with apparent ease. Or it might have been the self impotence, suspicion, and stubbornness that seemed to hang around the man like expensive cologne. The man before them would do almost anything to get what he wanted and Sam wasn't sure if he should respect that quality or be frightened by it.

"I think the Feraligatr in the sewers might not be that much of an urban legend." Sam said to Mikaela before turning to look at Simmons. "And the only thing I know about aliens is what I've learnt from watching movies and from what Miles has ranted on. Other than that I couldn't help you." The vehicle stopped at a red light its followers close behind it. When the light changed all of them moved on. Sam slipped a hand into one of his pockets and wrapped his fingers around the glasses that were so important to the Autobots.

Simmons meanwhile was shaking his head slightly. The annoyed feeling that Sam was sensing from the man almost made him want to smile. He didn't however because he wasn't quite sure how Simmons would take it and he didn't want more trouble than he could handle. When Simmons spoke again his words weren't exactly something that Sam wanted to hear.

"You know kid you're not the only one here who's good at reading people. I'm sure you're a lot better at it than I am but I can tell you one thing. You're lying." Simmons gave the two teens a smile that was anything but happy then proceeded to pull a badge from a pocket on the inside of his jacket and started again.

"You see this," he waved the badge in the teens faces, "This is a 'I can whatever I want and get away with it badge'. I can make both your lives a living Hell if I want too and neither of you could stop me."

Sam rolled his eyes while Mikaela snorted in disbelief. It was apparent to both teens that the man before them though that he was high, mighty, and all powerful. If he wasn't careful he was going to get his ass kicked off of his pedestal.

"You don't believe me. I could make you both disappear forever. Make it seem like you never existed. I bet that preserve of yours wouldn't last too long without someone there to keep the bulldozers away." Simmons said turning his attention towards Sam.

"Lots of companies would pay a pretty penny for all that land. And what would mommy and daddy think about their baby boy loosing the ancestral home." Simmons voice was mocking by the end of his sentience. Sam was about ready to spit nails at the man in front of him and if he could have he would have. Sadly he couldn't so he settled for the next best thing.

"You're one sorry son of a bitch you know that." It wasn't a question but a statement.

Simmons laughed. "I've been called worse things in languages that you haven't even heard of kid."

"Are you gonna take our little Lillipup, Toto too?" Mikaela asked. Her voice was full of sarcasm and loathing.

"He's just trying to get us riled up." Simmons voice was full of venom when he spoke.

"You in the training bra. Don't test me. Especially with your old man's parole coming up." Mikaela deflated like a balloon that had been poked with a needle. In a single instant all of the fight drained out of her and was replaced with sorrow and embarrassment.

"Parole?" Sam asked slightly shocked. He'd always known that Mikaela had hidden things from her friends and everyone else at school but he'd never thought that it was something like that.

"It's nothing Sam." Mikaela said. It was her silent plea for him to let the subject drop and though he was curious he wasn't going to push the issue. He was one cat that wasn't going to fall to that particular flaw. Simmons laughed before sending Mikaela a smirk.

"Grand theft auto, that ain't nothing." The light outside of the SUV changed and the vehicle resumed moving to its unknown destination. Mikaela meanwhile was giving Simmons a look that would have killed him on the spot had the teenage girl been able to. She hated the man sitting in front of her for outing her secret.

Hatred and anger rolled off of her in waves. Sam was quite certain that Simmons was going to get hit soon if he didn't shut his mouth. Simmons however was unaffected by the heated glare that he was receiving and simply gazed back at Mikaela. Realizing that she was fighting a loosing battle Mikaela turned to Sam. Hopefully if she explained he wouldn't think to badly of her.

"When I was little my dad used to teach me how to fix cars and I found out not long after he started teaching me that they weren't always his."

"Your dad taught you how to fix stolen cars?" Sam asked. Much to his credit and Mikaela's slight joy he didn't sound disgusted only surprised and confused. Simmons however lacked the ability to shut up and be nice.

"Yes sir. And she's got her own juvenile record to prove it." It took moment for Mikaela to gather up the nerves needed for her reply.

"Ya, well I wasn't going to rat him out in court so they charged me too." Mikaela took a split second to glance at Sam.

"I'm just an accessory." Simmons snorted and shook his head in mock sympathy.

"Yeah, sure you are. All someone has to do is take a look at your record to see that your a paragon of youthful virtue. And as for your old man, well it'd be a real shame if he had to rot in jail for the rest of his life." Having felt that his threat would at least shut Mikaela up for the time being Simmons was quick to turn his attention back on Sam, who for the most part had been observing the spat between the two of them quietly. It was likely that he was coming up with his own conclusion's about the girl seated next to him.

"And for you. It wouldn't be the first time we threw a Witwicky in the nut house. You see it was my great-great-grandfather that locked up your great-great-grandfather. And let me tell you this boy history is about to repeat itself." If Simmons had been hoping that his threat would have Sam quaking in his shoes and spilling his guts the Agent had another thing coming. In fact Sam was far from threatened. More than anything he was disgusted with the man sitting in front of him. What kind of person threatened teens with jail or an asylum? Or told deep dark secrets just to get a reaction out of someone? No, Sam was far from scared or threatened. He was much closer to pissed off beyond all reason.

"You're a son of a bitch." Sam said as he sat up a little straighter in his seat. He didn't care that he was repeating himself.

Simmons merely shrugged. It was almost as if he didn't care that he'd just been insulted and if what Sam was feeling from the man was right, he didn't.

Simmons gaze on Sam intensified. The two of them sat in silence for a moment simply staring at one another before the agent spoke again.

"Now lets try this again shall we? Tell me everything you know about your little alien visitors and don't skip on any of the details." Sam growled in annoyance and rolled his eyes towards the heavens a small prayer for patience running through his thoughts as he did so. Simmons wasn't going to give in no matter how long it took and as much as he didn't like it the best thing to do at that moment was tell the man what he knew.

"Fine. I'll talk but I doubt you're gonna like what I have to say."

"Give it a whirl kid and we'll just see how it goes." Simmons said a victory smile crossing his face. The smile on Simmons' face didn't last long and Sam had no chance to even start speaking as the vehicle they were in slammed into an unseen object in front of them. That object was a metal foot and judging by the rapid beeping from the very back of the SUV it was a large foot attached to an even larger robot.

Shouting began to fill the vehicle with sound as it was lifted off of the ground the tips of large metal fingers filled four of the windows. All around them metal began to groan as it was abused and while it seemed like minutes it was in fact only a matter of seconds before the SUV, minus roof, crashed back to the ground. The relief that flooded through Sam and Mikaela upon seeing Optimus Prime and his troops was more than welcome.

"You guys are in serious trouble." Sam said his attention on Simmons and the man that had been driving. "Fellows meet Optimus Prime."

Almost automatically both Simmons and the driver pulled their weapons. Their attempt to shoot at the alien before them was short lived however as the guns and every other item containing a certain amount of metal flew into the palm of Jazz's hand. The driver then made an attempt to hide behind his steering wheel leaving Simmons to face the kneeling Autobot leader alone.

"Get out of the car." Optimus's voice was almost quiet in it's request but there was a hint of something there that begged for them to not listen. The air around them was tense and silent as they climbed out of the ruined vehicle. Sam had a moment of shock when Mikaela undid the handcuffs that had been holding him prisoner and for a moment he thought about asking her where she had learned to do it but thought better of it before the words could leave his mouth. Instead he turned to look at where Optimus was having a stare off with Simmons.

"You do not seem afraid. Are you not surprised to see us." Optimus asked. Simmons brave man that he seemed to be on the outside was wishing that he was anywhere else at that moment. It wasn't easy staring down a face that was larger than you were. Despite his fear he managed to answer with a voice that was just as confident as when he'd been interrogating Sam and Mikaela minutes before.

"Look there are protocols for this stuff. I'm not authorized to communicate with you except to tell you that I can't communicate with you." Optimus shook his head. The exact reason why however was lost to all those but the mechs that made up his team. Sam smiled slightly at the cowed feeling that had replaced Simmons earlier overconfidence as he and Mikaela strolled over to where the agent was standing. Hands now free and pokéballs in reach the game had just changed and it was defiantly time for answers.

"So how did you know about the robots?" Sam asked as he and Mikaela stopped in front of Simmons.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Simmons mumbled while giving Sam and Mikaela dark looks. The agents hand was slowly making its way towards the balls on his belt.

Sam snorted. "Yah, that's real smart Simmons. Lets battle while the worlds threatening to go to hell all around us."

"Don't even think about it." Mikaela growled angrily. She was still more than pissed off at the man in front of her and she was more than willing to introduce him to Adair and any other pokémon on her team that could cause him sever bodily harm.

Simmons being the smart man that he probably was seemed to realize that attempting to start a fight at that moment probably wouldn't have been good for his health. Sam smirked slightly as Simmons' hand pulled away from his belt though the man himself stayed silent. Simmons might have been a son of a bitch but he was a determined son of a bitch. A soft thump drew the two teens attention away from Simmons long enough for them to see the handcuff that Jazz had dropped on the ground near their feet.

"Secure those two for us would ya?" It was a mixture of request and order that both teens were happy to follow. Still slightly stunned and angered by the nights events Mikaela was slow to actually pick up the cuffs but no sooner had they entered her hand before a wicked smile crossed her face. Turning to Simmons she nodded at the mans cloths.

"Take off your pants." she ordered.

Simmons blinked slightly shocked at the sudden and odd order. "What for?" he questioned.

"For threatening my dad." Mikaela sniffed as if she were about to start crying. Sam had to fight back the urge to start laughing because despite how bad things seemed the sudden shits in emotion between Mikaela and Simmons as well as the current situation was enough to amuse him.

"And if I refuse?" Simmons asked, still defiant. Mikaela smiled and jerked her head towards the mechs behind her.

"Want me to ask one of them to do it?" Glaring, the agent reached down and dropped his pants. Simmons legs looked like they hadn't seen the sun in years.

"Wow, pasty. I bet you scare the girls at the beach away. What's wrong never heard of Vitamin C?" Mikaela asked as she clamped one of the cuffs around one wrist while pulling the man's other wrist around a nearby power pole so that she could close the other around his other wrist. Sam did the same with the man that had been driving the vehicle that Optimus had torn apart.

"This is the beginning of the end of your life." Simmons growled at the now retreating Mikaela. Mikaela, much to her credit merely ignored the man as she went to retrieve her purse from the ruined SUV.

"Man, if Trent could see me now." Sam had to fight back the urge to smack his face. Of all the things for her to bring up in their current situation the only thing she could think of was Trent DeMarco. For whatever reason that didn't surprise him as much as it probably should have.

"Seriously, out of everything that's happened the only thing you can think of is Trent?" Mikaela blinked as if she didn't understand what the problem was.

"What?" Sam grumbled under his breath for a moment before running his hand over his face in frustration.

"What does that idiot matter in our current situation? It's not like him seeing you do this stuff is going to make him any nicer or more appreciative of you. He's a jerk. Trust me you're better of without him."

"What are you my therapist?" Mikaela snapped. Sam sighed slightly in annoyance but stood his ground. He wasn't going to back away just because he was making Mikaela mad. He'd kept quiet about her father but he wasn't going to about this because Mikaela deserved better than the school's biggest jerk.

"Look all I'm saying is that you can do better and that when it comes down to it your too good a person for Trent. He doesn't disserve you."

Mikaela looked slightly stunned at his words. It was almost like it was the first time anyone had ever told her that she was too good for something. For all Sam knew it might have been the first time anyone had ever told her that. Sam watched as Mikaela opened her mouth as if she were about to say something before closing it. Instead she turned her attention to the Autobots, who were standing around like great stone pillars listening to them talk and watching the goings on about them.

"So, what do we do now?" Mikaela asked, dropping the subject that she and Sam had been talking about. It hadn't been a fight not really because she'd been the only one mad. Sam had been calm and slightly annoyed but mostly calm. It made her wonder, no matter how much she hadn't cared before, about what Sam was really like because apparently she didn't have even the faintest idea. The Autobots around them glanced at one another for the briefest of seconds and for a moment it seemed like Optimus was going to answer her question.

The sudden sound of rotating helicopter blades and the sound of other vehicles stopped the mech's words before they had a chance to form. The group was surrounded faster than they had thought possible. High intensity spotlights swept over the forms of the robots. Optimus took a single step forward and plucked both Sam and Mikaela off of the ground and deposited them onto one of his shoulders.

"Hang on." Optimus ordered as the mechs around him unleashed some sort of pulse blast that flattened the tires on every SUV. The blast did nothing however to keep the helicopters from moving. It didn't seem to matter however as Optimus turned and started heading towards the nearest cover. Both Sam and Mikaela clinging to his shoulder for dear life.

One of the copters immediately began following Optimus as he fled the scene. On the ground agents armed with bolt cutters proceeded to free Simmons and the man who had been driving the ruined SUV. Simmons much to his credit wasted little time in pulling up his pants and running towards the nearest working vehicle.

The systems operator in the first gazed in frustration at the multiple readouts that were appearing on the screen in front of him. Given the amount of sensing gear present on the chopper, it should not have been possible to loose the giant alien robot that they had been tracking not moments before. Try as he might, however, he couldn't seem to locate the large machine.

They checked everywhere for the hiding robot and yet they found nothing. That might have been because all of the equipment on the chopper was pointing down to the ground. They had no reason to think that the entity that they had been tracking had taken refuge above their head hidden underneath the bridge that they had just gone under. Muscles strained as Sam and Mikaela struggled to hold onto the vertical form of Optimus Prime. They were however human and only possessed a humans strength.

Mikaela let out a startled yell as she was pulled down by the rotor wash of the helicopter that had just passed under the bridge. Sam just managed to grab hold of her hand with one of his while the other held tightly to the armor that was at that moment the only thing keeping him from plunging as well. Optimus much to his credit was being as still as possible because any sudden movement might cause either Mikaela or both of them to fall.

"Don't let go!" Mikaela yelled the order as she reached down towards her belt with one of her free hands. Understanding dawned almost immediately in Sam's mind. Mikaela had a flying type on her team and intended to either ride it or use it to climb back onto Optimus's shoulder. It was a good idea and Sam was positive that it would work only there was one thing that was working against them.

"No," Sam hissed as the sound of another approaching chopper reached his ears. "If you let it out and the chopper passes underneath us…" Sam's sentence trailed to an end unfinished but the paling of Mikaela's face told him that she understood what he was saying. Gulping Mikaela pulled her hand away from her belt and reached up so that she could wrap it around Sam's wrist. It wasn't much but it was better than hanging in the air with only one hand gripping the thing keeping you from falling.

"Don't move." Sam said as he began pulling Mikaela up towards him because the last thing he needed at that moment was for the Autobot beneath him to shift even slightly. The last thing he wanted was for him or Mikaela to fall to a splattery death.

Muscles strained slightly as Sam tried to pull Mikaela up with only one arm. He wasn't weak by any means but he also wasn't extremely muscular either. It would have been easier had he been able to use both hands to pull Mikaela up but he didn't have any choice. There was no way that he was letting go of Optimus's armor. The mech that he was holding on to neither moved or said anything. Sam was going to assume that that was a good thing.

And that sadly was about the only good thing because as Sam was pulling a second helicopter passed under the bridge not only pulling Mikaela down but Sam as well. The pair let out startled screams as they towards the ground. Optimus swung out a leg in an attempt to stop their fall instead of stopping it however her merely slowed it down. So caught up in the fall Sam didn't notice as the case the glasses were in slipped out of his pocket and made its own separate journey to the concrete.

Sam closed his eyes and waited for impact only for it to never come. Oh, he knew that he'd hit something. It just wasn't the ground. Opening his eyes fully Sam found that both he and Mikaela had been caught in a pair of metallic hands. Bumblebee's metallic hands. Bumblebee sat the two of them on the ground with infinite gentleness. Almost immediately after a steel-mesh net wrapped around his right arm and another wrapped around his legs.

Working together the two helicopters that had launched the nets pulled and brought the mech tumbling down. Bumblebee didn't fight back. The sudden twinge of what might have been more people than Sam cared to count entered his mind as they entered his range. People in SUV's that didn't come in peace and intended the mech on the ground harm. There was no way in hell he was going to let it happen at least not without putting up a fight.

"Aren't they going to help him?" Mikaela asked as she moved so that she was standing next to Sam. Her eyes were fixed on the bridge where Optimus was hiding. "No," Sam answered,

"They can't not with so many people around. If they try someone might get hurt and they aren't willing to risk it. Better one be caught then all of them." Sam knew that the words coming out of his mouth sounded harsh. They might have been but it was true enough. The Autobots wouldn't interfere with what was going on out of fear of hurting them. And as sad as it was it was better to let one go and rescue later than it was to let all of them get caught no matter how unlikely it seemed.

Sam watched as people poured out of the newly arrived vehicles and started moving towards him and Mikaela. Both teens tensed as they drew closer both of them ready to fight. The soft sound of opening pokéball's filled the air seconds before the emotions of the appearing pokémon filled his mind. Ice and electric types filled the area around them. Sam was only aware of how close he'd become to Bumblebee when he accidentally ran into the mech laying on the ground behind him. Turning Sam offered the yellow robot a small smile.

"It'll be okay Bee. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." And really he wasn't sure what made him say those exact words because it was very likely that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise. It might have had something to do with the look in the bot's bright blue eyes that had done it. Something about the emotions, about the barely there fear made him say the words that he'd recited to more pokémon than he cared to count. It was the same situation he supposed just a different thing being taken care of. Not a pokémon but an alien. One that had protected him before. It was only right that he returned the favor. Mikaela stood tense by his side and as the area around them began to fill with light mist (courtesy of several ice types) she turned to him for instructions.

"What are we going to do Sam?"

Sam knew the answer to that question a mere heartbeat after it was asked though it took him longer to answer. He was a healer by nature. He healed instead of battling and whatever training his pokémon received wasn't through his doing. He avoided battles like they were a plague whenever he could and unless the situation called for it he himself never fought. Their current situation however called for it very much and he prayed to the Legendaries that he'd be forgiven for the pain that he was about to put both his pokémon and the pokémon of others through. The fact that he was going to suffer right along with them didn't matter to him. Sam took a deep breath and turned so that he was looking at the girl beside him.

"We fight. What their doing isn't right and we're the only one's who can stop it." Mikaela paled but nodded her head. She knew that she didn't have to fight with Sam for Bumblebee but she was going to because it was the right thing to do. She was tired of seeming selfish and shallow to everyone around her. It was time to change. Pulling a pokéball from her belt Mikaela made up her mind and took the first step of many that would change her life.

"Wait until I tell you to release it. They're trying to use the mist to confuse us." Mikaela nodded. Sam's hand moved towards his belt slowly and for a second his fingers hovered over Mojo's pokéball before they moved to the very last ball on his belt. This ball was in even worse shape then Mojo's ball was. It had seen more years of use and the pokémon inside had seen more battles. With a flick of his wrist Sam had the ball in his hand and in its enlarged state. The pokémon inside was ready to be released at a moments notice.

"Get ready." Sam said. There was something in the mist with them and he knew quite well that it wasn't human. Closing his eyes Sam tried to focus on the pokémon that was coming near. If he could figure out how close it was then he'd know when to tell Mikaela to release her pokémon as a distraction because when he let his out he didn't want the people on the other side of the mist to know what had hit them.

"Now!"

"Cupid lets go!" Mikaela called as she tossed her ball into the air. There was a flash of color as something was released and took to the sky's with powerful wing beats. The humming like sound that the pokémon emitted was enough to tell him that it was an Altaria.

"Use Areal Ace Cupid." Mikaela ordered. The blue and white dragon twisted once in the air before it came speeding back down towards the ground towards its target. The mist split as Cupid flew through it so that they could see the Electabuzz that had been heading their way. The attack struck home as Cupid rammed into the other pokémon knocking it several feet away. The moment it was further away however a small swarm of Magneton and Magnezone descended on the flying type.

"Focus on getting rid of them Mikaela. Leave the one's on the ground to me." Sam said as the mist before them resettled and hide everyone else from view. "Are you sure Sam?" she asked. Sam nodded. He was more than sure.

"Spike, into battle!" With a flick of his wrist and a move of his arm the pokéball was launched into the air and the monster within was released into a white shroud.

Ooo

Simmons wasn't worried when the Electabuzz that had been sent into the mist was tossed back out by a pokémon that he assumed belonged to the girl with Witwicky. He wasn't at all surprised that the two of them had decided to betray their country by fighting back.

There wasn't any concern when the girl's Altaria was surrounded and began to fight against a nicely sized group of Magneton and Magnezone. No, none of those things mattered at that moment. What did matter was the so far the Altaria seemed to be the only pokémon that had been released to fight.

"Sir, what should we do?" Another agent asked him. Simmons thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Send another pokémon in and we'll see if they're really going to fight back." The man beside him nodded and a few seconds later the large form of a Beartic stalked into the mist that separated them from the teens. Simmons wasn't stupid. He knew that the Witwicky kid was an empath and that the moment he sensed the emotions of the pokémon nearing them that he'd react.

The big question was: How would he react? The Witwicky boy wasn't a battler. Most empaths weren't unless their powers were weak enough that they couldn't sense more than basic emotions. The boy siding with the aliens however wasn't one of those people. No, the kid was strong. One of the strongest known empaths in years and he wasn't even finished growing yet.

He'd read the both the public and classified files that the Pokémon League and government had on the boy and he knew that even being within one hundred feet of a pokémon battle left the kid feeling sick to his stomach or in pain. With a battle going on in close quarters like the one being fought in the sky was he was more than certain that it'd take little time to have the kid on his knees. Simmons knew what to expect from a battle with this kid and he was prepared for it.

A load roar tore through the mists in front of him and for a second he smirked only for the smirk to fade as the Beartic that had entered not a minute and a half ago was thrown from the back out with such force that it hit the ground yards behind him and didn't get up. Simmons tensed as he and every other agent waited. He'd figured that the kid would let out his Arcanine or maybe his Espeon for the battle.

"Have them move in and be ready for a battle. I'm not sure what he released but it isn't what I thought it was." He was greeted with a chorus of "Yes sirs" from those around him before several pokémon began to move from where they had been standing near the vehicles to where they were needed.

The silence that fell across those on the ground was broken only by the sound of pounding footsteps that seemed to make the ground shake. Simmons tugged at the collar of his shirt in anticipation. There was a moment of silence where even the pokémon fighting in the sky seemed to stop. The silence was broken by a loud enraged roar as the heavily armored form of a Nidoking burst through the mist and into battle.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The air seemed to vibrate as Spike tore through pokémon after pokémon. There were almost no breaks in between take downs and Sam was quite certain that Sector Seven was learning a very good lesson about screwing with him and what happened when you did it. Spike was one of the oldest pokémon on the preserve that was still battle worthy and he would be battle worthy for a very long time yet. That was one of the many good things about the Nidoking species.

There was a reason why Sam had chosen him to battle instead of Mojo because while he loved the big mutt to pieces Spike had almost twenty years of battle experience on his Arcanine. Spike had at one time belonged to his father much like Clover had once belonged to him mother. Unlike Clover however Spike had been raised for battle and to protect. In fact Sam was quite sure that the old Nidoking lived for battle and it was something that he wasn't going to argue with.

Not when Spike's love for battle was one of the only things keeping Simmons and his men from taking Bumblebee away from them. He knew that the old Nidoking would fight until he could no longer stand if it meant keeping him safe. The old Nidoking had always been protective of him, even more so since his parents and grandfather had died.

Sam winced as a sharp pain ran through his mind. Spike had just knocked out an enemy pokémon and was already moving towards the next pokémon. Sam was grateful that he could hardly see what was going on through the mist that still lingered between him and the battle. He was also thankful that he didn't need to call out any commands. Spike knew what he was doing and didn't need Sam to direct him. Unlike Cupid who was battling to Mikaela's commands.

It was sad that for intents and purposes Mikaela was more or less invisible to him at that moment. Oh, he knew that she was still there he just hadn't paid the girl any mind since the battle had started. She didn't seem to mind all that much seeing how she had her own battle to focus on. The last thing she needed was for Cupid to get caught by the swarm of pokémon that were after him.

He was doing fairly well from what Sam could tell, which wasn't much considering how high up they were. That however didn't matter because it wasn't Cupid's battle that he needed to focus on but Spike's. Spike was what was important to him because Spike was what was keeping them safe on the ground.

"Witwicky! How about we settle this the proper way?" Simmons voice called from the other side of the mist. Sam winced again as another sharp pain tore through his head as yet another pokémon was taken down. His head was beginning to pound and he was certain that he was headed past a regular headache and towards a full blown migraine. The pain was enough to make him wonder about the number of enemy pokémon on the other side.

"What did you have in mind Simmons?" Sam called back. If there was a way to end this without anymore battling he was all for it. Even if he didn't completely trust Simmons to keep his word no matter what the man suggested. He wanted this battle to end as soon as possible and if it meant what he thought it meant then he was willing to do it. No matter how much it went against his nature.

Ooo

Bumblebee wasn't too sure about what he should be feeling about the battles that were raging above and in front of him. He'd come across pokémon battles while he was learning about Earth and its customs but he'd never seen one before. Well he'd never seen one like this before. The few battles he'd seen since he'd arrived on Earth had been between children and had been nothing more than two pokémon ramming into each other two or three times before they were worn out and the battle ended.

He'd understood that they were merely for practice and exercise and no real harm had been intended. Besides he'd always been to busy looking for clues about Megatron and the Allspark to pay attention to the battles that were held by the older and more experienced trainers. He knew however that the creatures humans had dubbed pokémon could be dangerous to humans and the other creatures that roamed the planet, he had no desire to find out how vulnerable he and his fellows were to the creatures. Primus, that was one of the main reasons that humans caught and trained the creatures. They did it to protect themselves from wild pokémon.

It made sense to him in a way though he'd seen it mostly as slavery at first. The humans had seen the potential in pokémon and turned them into slaves for their own selfish purposes had been what he'd first thought. He hadn't cared to see the truth then. It had taken more time than he cared to admit for him to see the bonds of love and friendship that tended to grow between most people and their monsters. There were even pokémon that only evolved if they were loved enough or so he'd read though he didn't quite understand how that worked.

He hadn't truly come to understand the bonds however until he'd met Sam. Sam who was an oddity even to him because he wasn't like other humans. No, Sam wasn't like other humans at all. Sam healed instead of hurt. Sam raised and nurtured and cared and loved. Sam was a healer if he'd ever seen one. Sam healed physical wounds as well as wounds of the heart and soul. Or at least that's what the words engraved on the wood above the front porch to Sam's home said.

"_To heal body, heart, and soul." _Sam wasn't a soldier in any way or at least he hadn't been until now. Until Sam had decided that he was worth fighting for and protecting. Watching Sam send one of his pokémon into a fight was like watching Ratchet run headlong into battle and kill Cons instead of healing his comrades. It was wrong because unlike the two humans trying to protect him he could see through the mist that surrounded them like it wasn't even there. He could see the fight that was going on between the pokémon that Sam had released and the others. It wasn't really something that he was enjoying watching.

It didn't matter that the fight was fairly one sided and that Sam's beast seemed to be winning. He didn't want the Sam that battled. He wanted the Sam that healed back. He didn't like the Sam that sent his pokémon out into battles where the odds were stacked against them and the chances of loosing were greater than that of victory, no matter how the battle was going at the moment because he knew that the other side hadn't gotten serious yet.

He didn't want to see the creatures that Sam and Mikaela had sent out to protect him hurt. He wanted them to call them back and to make the fighting stop. This wasn't the friendly fighting he'd seen in some battle or the battles for sport that were meant to find out who the strongest was. This was a battle for him and he hated it. Bumblebee fought the urge to close his optic's as he watched the battle but couldn't bring himself to.

There was nothing else he could do while he was pinned to the ground and to close his optic's to the fighting wouldn't mean that it had stopped. He'd still be able to hear the battles and pick them up on scans and for all he knew that might be even worse. Sam and Mikaela were doing this for him and it'd be like a betrayal to try and block it out. He'd be denying the sacrifices that they were making for him and he couldn't bring himself to do that. Bumblebee did however have to fight back the urge to whine when Sam's shoulders jerked.

Bumblebee had noticed the teenager making that motion before and had assumed that it was some sort of tick that showed when the boy was battling. He was sure now that it wasn't because Sam winced whenever one of the battlers was injured and it almost seemed like Sam could feel their pain as if it was his own. Bumblebee was too sure if he liked that thought or not. The idea that there was something that could hurt Sam that neither he nor the boys pokémon could protect him from made his spark hurt.

The idea that Sam might just be hurting himself in some way to protect him made the pain even worse. He was Sam's guardian. He was supposed to protect the human that their fates rested upon and it wasn't supposed to be this way. Everything had been turned around and was backwards. He wanted things to go back to the way they were supposed to be. He knew that they wouldn't and he found that he hated himself for what he was forcing Sam and Mikaela to do. He wished that they weren't trying to protect him because he was sure that things would go wrong if things continued going the way they were.

Ooo

The world around Mikaela didn't exist. There was no Sam and Bumblebee next to her. There were no government agents on the other side of the white mist that surrounded them and separated them from the rest of the world. All there was to her at that moment in time was the battle being fought between Cupid and his pursuers. It was the battle that she was focused on. She was a coordinator after all and her battles were works of art. This battle would be no different. It didn't matter that Cupid was at a disadvantage when fighting the swarm of electric and steel type pokémon that were after him.

They'd taken down tough opponents before and this battle would be no different. She'd prove to Simmons that she wasn't the delinquent that he thought she was. She'd prove herself no matter what it took. No one was going to look down on her if she had her way. She'd show the world that they were wrong about her and then she'd laugh. Mikaela had every intention of proving that she could take care of herself and while she was still slightly unnerved by the alien robot that they were trying to protect she had no intentions of letting Sector 7 get their grubby little hands on him.

She didn't know what would happen if they did manage to capture Bumblebee but she was sure that it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Cupid use Dragon Breath." Mikaela ordered as she watched her Altaria turn in the air so that he was facing the pokémon chasing him. There was the slightest pause as Cupid inhaled. A moment later the sky was lit up with violet flames.

The high heat of the attack had two of the more battered Magneton falling from the sky and towards the earth below. Mikaela smirked in silent satisfaction as she watched the pokémon fall. Now all she really needed to do was get rid of the rest of them and they'd be good. She knew the odd of that happening however and they weren't as good as she would have liked. Steel types had high defense and were weak against very few types.

There was also the fact that it was completely possible that the Sector 7 goons had flying types that simply hadn't been released yet. If that was the case then she knew that their attempt to keep Bumblebee safe would fail. She wasn't going to let that stop her. Blue eyes widened slightly as Mikaela took in the sight of the Magnezone that had just gotten behind Cupid and was about to launch an attack.

"Dragon Dance!" Mikaela all but shouted as she watched a bolt of electricity launch itself at her pokémon. Cupid was quick to answer her command. Cupid twisted quickly in the air only to have a stray bolt strike the cloud like feathers of one wing. Flight feathers had just been clipped. The soft humming that had filed the air before quickly turned into a loud cry of pain as Cupid plummeted towards the ground spinning wildly.

"Shit!" Mikaela cried as she pulled out Cupid's pokéball and called the dragon back. Mikaela took only a moment to offer Cupid a silent apology before she replaced his pokéball and reached for Adair's. It was time to fight with fire. It was only Sam's hand on hers that stopped her from succeeding.

"Sam let my hand go." she growled,

"I'm going to take them down." Sam merely looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, let me handle this Mikaela. Simmons and I are going to have a proper battle and I need you to stay here with Bumblebee so that way they don't try anything." Mikaela wasn't sure if she should smack Sam or yell at him. Did he really think that Simmons was going to keep any sort deal?

"Do you really think that you can trust him?" Mikaela hissed. Sam turned to look across the field of thinning fog and at the figure that Mikaela had to assume was Simmons before turning to look at her again.

"No, I don't think he can be trusted but this is the fastest way to end this. If I do this right we might be able to fee Bumblebee and get out of here."

"And how are we going to do that?" Sam, shook his head before answering.

"I'm not sure yet."

"Oh, well that's just great Sam."

Ooo

Simmons smirked as he watched the two teens that were becoming easier to see with each passing second. Some part of him wasn't at all surprised by the fact that they were arguing. The two of them were teenagers after all and no matter how they were raised they were going to clash in some way eventually. It just happened that now was apparently their time to clash.

"What are we going to do sir?" Simmons turned his head and looked at one of the agents that had showed up in order to help capture the NBE's.

"For the moment you're going to wait. I know what I'm doing. I've handled a psychic or two before and Witwicky won't be any different." The younger agent blinked.

"So you have a plan, Sir?" Simmons smirked and nodded.

"I have a plan that you wouldn't believe." He hadn't been joking when he'd said he'd handled psychic's before. In fact he liked to thin that other than intimidation that taking down annoying psychic's was his specialty. Not many people understood how to get around the humans that were gifted with mental powers beyond understanding but he did know and he was planning on putting that knowledge to use.

It'd be tricky. There was no doubt in his mind that it would be anywhere near easy especially with an empath of Witwicky caliber. He did however have an advantage or two working for him and he planned on using them. All he had to do was take his time and be sure that he made very few mistakes and by the time he was through with Witwicky and his little girlfriend they wouldn't know what had hit them.

Ooo

Sam's whole body was tense. He knew what was about to happen and no matter how much he didn't want to do it he knew that he had too. If he didn't things might just go on forever and they didn't have time to drag things out anymore. What needed to be done had to be done and he was going to be the one to do it no matter how much he didn't really want too. He wouldn't let anyone else bear the blame of what was to come.

Mikaela could protest and cuss at him all she wanted and it wasn't going to do a thing to change his mind. Sam knew that she didn't trust Simmons to keep his word. Sam didn't trust him either but that didn't matter anymore. He was doing this to keep pokémon from getting hurt in the battles that could still be raging around them. If doing this meant that the battles and pain would stop then it's what he would do.

He wasn't meant for battles especially long drawn out battles. If he had to battle he preferred to make them quick and as painless as possible. Winning wasn't worth the pain that both he and his pokémon endured. No victory was worth the pain. Or at least it hadn't been before now. Now winning was all that mattered and the pain would be worth it.

Sam wasn't stupid he knew the battle that was about to happen between him and Simmons probably wouldn't be very quick at all. Sam wasn't even really sure if he could make it through the entire battle without his brain turning to goo inside of his skull but he was going to try. Because Bumblebee was worth it. The protection that Bumblebee and the other Autobots stood for was worth it. There was no doubt in Sam's mind that had the Decepticons decided to attack and the Autobots not been there that the people and pokémon of the planet would have been able to defeat them eventually.

There would have been many deaths along the way but victory would eventually come. The Autobots were a form a hope. A hope that when the Decepticons did attack that they would be there to fight them off and prevents millions of deaths. With the Autobots by their side, even temporally, the chances of ending the battle before it reached the point that the Legendaries noticed was great. The last thing that the world needed was for the Legendaries to get involved. He didn't want to think about how the planet would suffer between a Legendary dieing and being reborn and Arceus forbid a major power like Kyogre or Groudon should die. He didn't want to think about that.

No, at the moment he couldn't think about that he had other things to do. A soft nudge to one of Sam's hands drew him out of his inner ramblings. He looked up and into Spike's dark eyes. The battle scarred Nidoking was giving him a calm and steady look. Sam offered the old warrior a half smile and placed his hand on Spike's head.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Spike snorted and nodded before giving Sam a look that seemed to say "I was born ready".

"Good because I'm sure that this battle won't be easy." Spike snorted and turned so that he was facing the approaching Simmons. The Nidoking took a few steps forward placing itself between Simmons and its trainer. Spike eyed the man that dared to put his masters child in danger and roared the sound loud enough to rattle the glass in the windows of various government vehicles. Spike was ready to continue fighting no matter what.

The old Nidoking didn't seem to care that he had just been in a battle and was already sporting wounds from it. Sam watched as Simmons smirked and took his place on the other side of the battlefield. The man had a single Great Ball clutched in his hand. Sam tensed as Simmons emotions brushed against his mind.

The man before him was annoying in a way. He was very good at hiding what he was feeling which meant that unless Sam was next to him he wasn't going to get much of a read on the man. That suited him just fine at the moment however because it meant that he had one less thing for the empathic part of his brain to focus on.

The downside was that he was going to feel every single blow that the pokémon dealt to each other with more clarity.

"What do you say we get started kid?" Sam didn't offer Simmons an answer and he doubted that the man was actually expecting one. Simmons lobbed a not so nice smile in Sam's direction before throwing his Great Ball into the air. There was the usual red flash that heralded the release of the captured pokémon. Sam winced slightly as his eyes landed on the pokémon that Simmons had released. A Sneasel. It was an almost utterly brilliant move.

Not only did the smaller pokémon have a type advantage but it would be hard to hit due to its size. Not only that but Sneasel were amazingly fast and fierce. It was the perfect strategy to use against Spike's size. There was a single moment of tension is the air before both pokémon lunged at one another neither waiting for their trainers commands.

Ooo

"Snip use Ice Beam." Simmons called as he watched his Sneasel take on Witwicky's Nidoking. There was no doubt in his mind that he could succeed in taking the bipedal tank down. Snip had been well trained and had gone up against many opponents larger than himself. Snip didn't hesitate at all when it came to launching the frozen beam of air at his current opponent. Spike however wasn't going to let himself get frozen solid.

He'd faced many a foe that had had an advantage in type and they didn't scar him. He took the attack head on swinging his massive tail around to meat the icy blue mean. Spike's tail froze solid but it didn't seem to bother him. A few slams against the ground had the frozen appendage freed with only lingering cold.

"Spike use Earthquake." Sam called from his side of the battle field. Spike charged forward a few steps before jumping into the air and slamming back down onto the ground. The ground beneath his feet shivered and then seemed to roll outwards from his point of impact. It was with satisfied eyes that Spike watched as his smaller opponent was thrown to the ground. Snip didn't stay down long however. It took only a second for the Sneasel to regain its feet and lung at spike claws bared and ready to attack.

"Use Metal Claw." Simmons called.

"Dodge it Spike." Both pokémon acted on their trainers orders only there was no dodging the incoming attack. Sharp claws tore into Spike's side leaving long scratches that wept blood. Spike roared in pain and swung his tail at his opponent again. It missed.

"Spike Fissure." The command hung in the air for half a second before Spike slammed a massive foot into the ground. A single ray of light raced outwards and towards snip who jumped just as the attack would have struck him. It had been a risky move. One that would cost Spike a great deal. Simmons smirked.

"Dark Pulse and aim it at the ground." Snip wasted no time. One second everything was visible and the next dust and dirt was filling the air effectively blocking much of the battle from view.

Ooo

Sam shuddered and tried to fight of the sudden urge to take his attention off of the battle. His head was pounding and he was quite certain that he was either going to be sick or pass out completely if things continued on the way they were. He had to end the battle and he had to do it soon.

The days stress was beginning to take its toll. Brown eyes focused of the dusty air before him. He could make out Spike's hulking figure but he couldn't see Simmons Sneasel. He could feel it but he couldn't tell if it was going to attack or not. Sam caught Mikaela moving out of the corner of his eye but ignored her. She hadn't said a word since his battle had started and Bumblebee had gone quiet when the battles had first started. That was good because he didn't have time to focus on them. All his attention needed to be on the battle before him.

"Use Icy Wind then Ice Beam Snip." For half a second Sam didn't comprehend what Simmons had ordered. His brain didn't want to acknowledge what he'd heard and he knew why.

"Spike use Thrash!" Sam called. He was desperate and he knew it. Thrash was a last ditch effort to wind the battle that was being fought. Spike was at his limit and the two ice attacks the he was facing would more than likely take him down. Sam could hear the thuds as Spike's tail and feet slammed into the ground. A sharp pain ran through his head followed quickly by another. For half a second Sam's vision blurred. He didn't know which one had been hurt but one of them had.

"Sam?" Mikaela asked her voice worried, "Are you okay?" Sam shook his head in an attempt to clear it and ignored Mikaela's question. He had to keep focused on the battle at hand. Well on the battle and on not passing out.

"Sam, answer me damnit!" Mikaela's voice seemed to echo in his ears. "Mikaela, shut up." Sam growled his voice low. "I need to focus and you aren't helping."

"Well, then answer my question instead of ignoring me." she hissed. Sam opened his mouth to reply biting words on the tip of his tongue.

"Mikaela if you can't keep…" The words died as utter agony tore through Sam's senses. Sam swayed for a moment before his knees hit the ground. Sam blinked and was sure that Mikaela was calling out to him in panic.

Bumblebee might have joined her but he couldn't tell if the noise he was hearing was from his ears or from the robot. Sam forced his head up in time to see Spike crash to the ground in front of him. He had to force his hand to reach for Spike's ball so that he could recall the downed pokémon to safety.

"You loose Witwicky." There was a split second for Sam to become aware of the pokémon in front of him. All he saw however were a pair of red eyes before everything went dark.

Ooo

I think I might just go and give myself a swirly or something now. Sorry it took me so long to update but the battle scene in this chapter kicked my ass. I'm not very happy with it but I doubt that I could do better. I'll try to update soon though I think it may be at the beginning of next month. I have three other stories to worry about and plan on updating one a week.

I hope you guys review. Now I'm off to watch the MTV Movie Awards.

Simmons

Snip - Sneasel


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When everything that had been below had gone and nothing else moved Optimus dropped down to the ground from his place underneath the bridge. Blue optics swept across the area that had been a battlefield only minutes ago. The concrete bore fresh scars and was frozen in several places. Truthfully Optimus wasn't quite sure what to think. He'd gotten the information about pokémon when he'd accessed the internet but he hadn't given them much thought. He doubted that any of them had given them the proper amount of thought.

The worlds population of pokémon and the relationship that the humans shared with them was something that was to be considered at a later date if the need to think about them was necessary at all. There was after all no telling what was going to happen on Earth while they were there. It had been their mistaken to not take them into consideration.

Optimus had been slightly horrified by the battle that had taken place between Sam, Mikaela, and the agents of Sector 7. While it wasn't anywhere near the level of fighting he'd experienced it was still bad. The humans had enslaved another living creature and were using them to fight. Optimus shuttered at the though of it but he also knew that he couldn't judge what the humans were doing by just watching a single battle.

It wouldn't be fair because it seemed like the pokémon had been willing and Sam had seemed almost pained by what he'd had to do. To their credit they had been fighting to protect Bumblebee. They had been fighting to do something that Optimus wouldn't let neither himself or his Autobots do.

And because he hadn't allowed it now both Bumblebee and the children were gone. Optimus blinked and let his optics sweep the area taking in the battle damage one final time. Optimus's head jerked slightly as he caught sight of something laying on the ground. Metal and glass.

There laying on the ground were the glasses that they needed in order to find the Allspark. Optimus bent down and with a surgeons touch picked up the old pair of specs. His gaze settled on the glasses for a moment before turning to look in the direction that Sector 7 had taken Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela. They now had the item that they so desperately needed but it had cost them something else.

Ooo

The room around them was soundproofed to the best of mankind's ability. There were no bugs, no recording devices, nor any echo's from outside. A president could sit in the conference room and spill government secrets and no one but the person he was talking to would ever know. At the moment the room was occupied by far less important individuals.

Tom Banachek voice was soft but serious as he spoke to the aged man in front of him. Keller found that he really didn't have any choice but to listen to what the man before him was saying. The briefcase that had been cuffed to Banachek's wrist was now sitting on a table wide open.

"You'll have to accept that there are many things that you won't understand right away sir. Some of these things will be more evident than others, and will likely require more of an explanation," Banachek paused for a moment before continuing, "Sector 7 is a special-access division of the government that was created under President Hoover. Our specialty is everything that doesn't fall under any other branch of government's jurisdiction or specialty. In the interests of time Mr. Keller I'll cut right to the case."

Keller blinked and waited for the bomb that was about to be dropped on his life.

"Aliens are real, sir."

Keller opened his mouth to ask a question but stopped himself. He had a feeling that many of the questions that were currently popping up in his head would be answered if he waited. Keller watched with anticipation as Banachek pulled an armored laptop out of his briefcase and turned it on. A series of various logo's flashed across the screen as the machine loaded.

"As you may remember NASA lost the _Beagle Two _Mars Rover a few years ago." Keller nodded his head. He remembered. "It wasn't. My division told them to report the mission a complete failure. It wasn't." Banachek typed rapidly on the computers keys for a moment before a fuzzy picture was pulled up on screen. "The Rover transmitted for thirteen seconds after touching the surface."

Keller watched as the picture on screen came to life. Red rock and sand dominated the screen for a few seconds before a large shadow fell over the picture. There was a brief glance of something large, slightly rectangular, and mechanic before the video cut out and the screen went blank. Banachek turned to look at the aged Secretary of Defense.

"Before the Beagle quit transmitting it sent back a single image. Do you recall what that final image was?" Keller nodded slowly, a little stunned.

"It's pretty hard to forget." Banachek nodded at Keller's reaction before pulling up a second image on the computer screen.

"This is the picture that our soldiers were able to get of the thing that attacked them in Qatar. We believe that they share the same exoskeleton." Keller found that he could only nod stupidly as he stared at the picture on the computer screen.

"We're not sure if it's the same one that attacked the Beagle but we do know one thing. It isn't Russian or Korean."

Keller swallowed hard as Banachek shut down that laptop and closed the shell. "Are we talking about an invasion?"

Banachek's tone was somber when he answered. "Mr. Secretary we don't know what we're talking about - yet. There is however a positive note - "

Keller interrupted. "A positive note?" The agent managed a small grin.

"We picked up a message from those rangers. Our people are trained to fight back even when we don't know what we're fighting against. These things can be hurt by our weapons, and they know it. It's why they shut us down. If we can't communicate then we can't coordinate against their next assault, when ever that maybe." Banachek slipped his laptop back into its case. "The president as authorized your department to assist us. We fear that their next strike may be coming sooner than we think.

Keller nodded at Banachek before he beeped for an aid. When the woman outside the room responded he began to bark orders. "Get word to out fleet commanders over the National Guard system. Tell them to turn our ships around and to come home pronto. No combat is to be engaged, there is to be no exchange of hostilities. Make sure that's understood."

Ooo

The room that Maggie Madison and Glen Whitman were being kept in was soundproof, though not to the extreme extent that the room Keller and Banachek had spoken in had been. Both Maggie and Glen rose from their seats as a cluster of agents burst into the room followed closely by Keller himself. Glen instantly started blubbering.

"Don't put me jail. Pleaser don't put me jail. Can we just call my grandma?"

Maggie gave Glen a look that he wouldn't have liked very much before turning her attention towards the agents. "Why are we here. what's going on and when can I call my lawyer and get my pokémon back?" Keller walked up to her.

"You don't need a lawyer and I'll see if we can get you your pokémon."

"Oh, I need my lawyer because I plan on suing a lot of people." Keller rubbed at his eyes for a moment.

"You're not going to sue anybody. You don't have time," Keller said, "because I'm making you my adviser and if we don't get moving then there's a very good chance that there won't be anyone to sue after everything's said and done." Despite still being angry Maggie shut her mouth. Keller watched her for a moment before his eyes moved to the still panicking Glen. "Who's he?" he asked.

Maggie didn't even bother looking in Glen's direction. At that moment she was ready to pretend that she didn't know him but sadly she did.

"He's my advisor." Though Keller found that doubtful he chose not to question it.

"He comes too." Keller said nothing more. He simply turned on his heal and exited the room. Maggie and Glen followed closely Glen wiping at his eyes. The agents said not a word as they walked though two of the slowed long enough to give the pair back their pokéball belts.

Ooo

The woods above Tranquility were quiet with only the sound of a few birds chirping as the hunted for their next meal or their next mate. A pair of Stantler moved into a small clearing before a sharp noise caused them to bolt into a cluster of dense foliage. Optimus hadn't meant to frighten the pokémon when he moved so that the glasses held in his hand were optic level.

Two narrow beams shot from his optic's and into the glass that made up the lenses of the glasses he held. The light of the beams and the marks on the glasses caused a three dimensional sphere to appear in the air a few feet away from his face. There sphere was a map of the world that they were currently standing on.

The detail of the sphere was great though that wasn't what held the Autobots attention. Their attention lingered on a single glowing point. Optimus blinked and the sphere seemed to focus closer on the single point until a body of water surrounded by land was visible.

"In terms of local measurement the Allspark is exactly two hundred and fifty miles from our current location. It is a distance easily traveled."

Jazz's response took seconds. "They have Bumblebee!"

"Bumblebee is a brave soldier who understands the risks that must be taken if we are to win this war." Optimus's words had started in Cybertronian and ended in English. "For the sake of patience and familiarity, we need to speak the language of what mat end up as our now home."

"Our new home?" Ratchet said, clearly bemused.

Optimus turned to regard the medic. "I have had time to ponder several outcomes of the events that may occur, and what I have decided is this. If we return the Allspark to Cybertron our war will likely continue. I presume that we would win eventually but not for a thousand more years. We have been fighting for so long that I can barley remember anything else."

With a sweep of one arm he took in their surroundings. Though organic the land around them was quiet and peaceful. "The chance to live a life outside of constant fighting lives here on this world. The madness ends today."

"How?" Jazz asked because he needed to know what Optimus had planned.

"When we reach the Allspark I will merge it with my spark."

Ratchet was appalled at his leaders words. "The energy within the Allspark will destroy you both."

"I will not allow the humans to become a casualty to our war. That is not our way. We fight to preserve life no matter how different it is from our own." Ironhide snorted and mumbled something that made Optimus shake his head and sigh.

"It is something worth dieing for." Other than Ironhide's grumbling about the planets native inhabitants there was silence. The group stood together for another moment before they began to transform into the vehicle's that would allow them to hide themselves from the humans that they were protecting.

"Autobots, roll out."

Ooo

The first rays of morning found themselves falling across the forms of three helicopters that were swiftly carrying the human cargo over the vast desert. Sam and Mikaela sat on one side of the helicopter's bench while Maggie and Glen sat on the other. All four of them were wearing advanced headsets that had told them nothing for a long time.

They were also giving each other weary and uncertain looks. Sam watched as the blond female across form him applies a small amount of makeup to her face. He had been half tempted at one time to try and start a conversation with the other members of the copter that he and Mikaela were in but the pounding ache in his head had stopped him.

His head had been hurting ever since he woken up in one of Sector Seven's black SUV's and hadn't stopped hurting since. In fact his whole body hurt. The echo of the battle that Spike and Simmons' Sneasel had fought still hadn't faded away and he wanted nothing more than to find a dark empty room and to curl up with Mojo and Clover and sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore. Sam knew he couldn't do that however because there was something important he had to do first. He had to find Bumblebee and his pokémon.

As it turned out Sector Seven had taken both his and Mikaela's belts when Simmons' Gengar had put them to sleep. Sam wasn't quite sure if he was pissed that they had been taken or nervous about his pokémon's reactions when he got them back. At the moment it seemed pretty fifty-fifty. Sam's eyes slid over the two people that were sitting across from him and Mikaela. He didn't know there names but he knew that there was a very good chance that they were all being taken in for the some reason.

Which meant that he was going to ignore his headache for the moment and attempt to make nice with them or at least ask them their names considering that they were almost in the same boat. The biggest difference was that they had their pokémon.

"This is awkward." Sam said and almost cringed at the stupidity of his words. While it wasn't what he'd actually meant to say it did manage to get the attention of the other passengers. Maggie looked up from her compact and regarded Sam and Mikaela from where she sat. When she next spoke there was no condescension in here voice because of their young age. Maggie remembered all too well what it was like to be a teenager.

"What'd they get you for?" she asked the pair. Sam though for a moment before replying.

"I bought a car and it turned out to be an alien robot." For all that Maggie reacted Sam could have just told here that they were there because they cheated on a math test.

"Why are you here?" Mikaela asked from her place next to Sam. Sam fought the urge to growl when she gave him another worried look. She'd been doing that since they'd woken up and Sam just knew that there were a thousand little question running around in her head. Questions that he was sure he'd have to answer eventually.

"We might have caught them hacking into Air Force One." Maggie said with a shrug.

"Huh." Was all the reaction that Sam had. He was already to used to the strange shit that was happening in his life to be amazed by much else.

Glen sniffed from where he was sitting before putting in his two cents. "I was just sitting at home watching CNN and playing video games. I shouldn't even be here."

Sam rolled his eyes. His reaction mirrored by Mikaela. "I'm Sam Witwicky." he said, reaching out towards Maggie with a single hand. Unlike her reaction to why they were there his last mane did get a reaction out of Maggie.

"Witwicky? You wouldn't happen to be related to an old captain named Archibald would you?" Sam nodded. "He was my great-great grandfather." As the sun rose into the sky it's intensifying rays struck gold off of Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam.

Sam, Mikaela, and Maggie each sought a window to look out of while Glen stayed in his seat pouting over the entire situation. The three copters that had been flying towards their current destination for some time began to descend.

Ooo

Seven soldiers and a couple of agents stepped out of the first chopper. Lennox took in their surroundings and shook his head before turning towards Epps. "It doesn't seem to matter what we do. We still can't seem to get away from the freakin' desert."

Sam, Mikaela, Maggie, and a very reluctant Glen stepped out of the second copter while Keller, Banachek, and a very gaunt Simmons stepped out of the third. Lennox held his ground as Keller walked up to him. The two men shook hands.

"You did excellent work, Captain especially getting us that thermal image." Lennox shook his head and then nodded towards Epps. "Technical Sergeant Epps deserves the credit for that, sir. He was the one that got the image." Lennox squinted up at the sky and was unnerved to find that it looked exactly like the sky over Qatar.

"What about the gunship's, sir?"

"They're being fitted with sabot rounds now though it'll be hard to coordinate anything with communications down. The last thing we want to do is get civilian authorities mixed up with this." Keller said. The man then gesture towards the woman standing beside him. She didn't seem to be able to hold still for very long for she was shifting from one foot to the other as if she had too much pent up energy.

"This is Maggie Madison. She's one of our analysts and the man beside her is Glen Whitman her assistant." The word assistant seemed to snap Glen out of his rut for as soon as the word had left Keller's mouth his attention snapped towards the man.

"Assistant? Excuse me but I'm not her-" The rest of the chubby man's ramble went ignored by those present for they had more important things to focus on. Glen ended up having to catch up with the group because he hadn't noticed when they'd began walking away from him. The group was headed towards an art deco entranceway.

Mikaela slowed so that she could take a moment to admire the view of the lake that was being held back by the dam. As she was doing this something was climbing out of her purse, which had been returned to her but not he belt, and disappeared along the concrete and scrub.

Ooo

Frenzy scuttled under a barrier and worked his way into spaces that nothing but Joltik could traverse with ease. Finally Frenzy halted underneath a sign. SECTOR SEVEN ONLY! NO TRESSPASSING! LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED! Frenzy let out an electronic squeal that lasted no longer than a second. The code was to dense and brief to be picked up by any of the sensors nearby.

"Sector Seven located. Follow my signal - and bring my body."

Ooo

On a Air Force base not to far from Frenzy's current location an F-22 Raptor suddenly roared to life. The plane taxied off the end of a line of identical planes before turning onto the main runway. This caused confusion for those that were currently working in the nearby tower. There was no one among those present who knew who had requested or given permission for the plane to takeoff. Things would have been much worse had any of them been able to see that there wasn't a living person in the jets cockpit.

Ooo

On the edge of an Army pool a huge mine clearing vehicle rumbled to life. The vehicle had six wheels and was heavily armored. It also sported a large a large specialized device for finding mines that were hidden underground. There were no solders in the are to see the vehicle run over a section of the surrounding fence and roll onto the nearest highway.

Ooo

High above a city not at all far from tranquility a Military helicopter roamed the skyline. The copter banked suddenly and started heading north. It was a MH-43. Had Lennox or Epps been there to see the copter they would have recognized it with ease. For it was the same MH-43 that had attack their base in Qatar.

Ooo

A group of men and heavily muscled pokémon stood around a crushed cop car. A pair of Machoke were in the process of freeing said car from underneath a fallen wrecking ball. How the wrecking ball had fallen none of them know but they were thankful that no one had been in the vehicle when it had been crushed. At least not to their knowledge. A few of the less sensitive men had chuckled at the sight and thrown out a few bad jokes about the situation.

The chuckles and jokes turned into screams when the freed cop car turned into a towering bipedal shape with red eyes. AS the terrified workers and their equally terrified pokémon fled the area, Barricade bent down to pick up the small crushed body that had been laying beside him. Once the very last human and pokémon had fled Barricade transformed back into his police cruiser form. Lights and siren stilled, Barricade rolled out of the lot.

Ooo

At the base of Hoover Dam, a wheeled platform surrounded by agents and pokémon was being drawn into an access tunnel. A black and yellow mechanoid was tightly secured to the platform. This being was unable to escape no matter how hard it seemed to struggle. No one seemed to notice as the platform and its robotic prisoner disappeared into the dam.

Ooo

Sam and Mikaela were being ushered forward by Simmons and a small group of the man minions. They were soon joined by a tall man with a briefcase handcuffed to one wrist. Banachek at the two teenagers but said nothing.

"Get your damn hands off of me." Mikaela snarled at the agent that was pushing her forward. Sam was just as upset as the girl next to him though he didn't quite lash out like Mikaela. He didn't like the situation they were in and he didn't like where they were going.

He had a bad feeling and he wasn't sure if it was his empathy telling him something or if it was simply survival instincts. Simmons chuckled as the teens approached him.

"Hey kid," he addressed Sam, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?" Sam snorted and gave Simmons a look that wouldn't have meant well for the man had Sam had Mojo with him.

"I want my car and my pokémon." Sam hissed through clenched teeth. It was Banachek who responded to Sam's requests.

"Son I need you and your friend to listen to me. Some really bad things have been happening for the past few days. People have died and there's a chance that even more people are going to be killed. We need to know everything you know so that we can try and stop these things."

Sam took a deep breath. Banachek was calm and had nothing bad planned for them. If he could find it within himself to be civil back to the man the chances were he'd be able to get at least their pokémon back. He was going to need Clover if they were going to meet up with the group he'd seen earlier and go into a crowded place.

"If you promise not to hurt him - my car, I mean and give us back our pokémon. That's the only way you're getting anything out of me." Banachek looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded.

"Passive scans only. I promise and I'll see if I can get someone to track down your pokémon though it may take a few minutes."

Sam nodded a bit reluctantly before his eyes darted back to Mikaela and another thing popped into his head. "One more thing, though its not really for me. You gotta let her dad outta prison like for-ev-er." Sam couldn't help but smile a bit when he saw Simmons' face.

The other agent however wore a neutral expression. Mikaela's however wasn't. Mikaela was giving him a grateful smile. Sam found that he was able to smile back at her. A twinge on the very edge of Sam's empathic perception alerted him to the group that was coming up behind them. Sam really hoped that the agents managed to get him his pokémon back soon.

He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to stand so many people with the headache he still had from earlier. When the soldiers came into view Sam noticed that each one wore a grim look on their face (one that matched their emotions) and had very good tans.

"Ladies and gentlemen follow me. I'm afraid that time is of the essence." Banachek requested in a calm voice. The group said not a word as they were led into Hoover Dam. Sam recognized the large turbines from an old black and white movie that he'd once been forced to watch and stay awake for in class.

He had never expected to see them in person mainly because of all the other people that would have been there as well. As Banachek lead them through the large structure, Simmons was finally able to unburden himself of some classified information.

"Here's the situation so far. We appear to be facing war with beings that are far more technologically advanced than we are." He nodded at Sam and Mikaela.

"You're here because in one way or another you've all had contact with the NBE's."

"Like it or not that make you the world's foremost experts on the visitors. Age isn't what matters here. What matters is your individual experiences." Banachek said.

Epps looked uncertain. "NBE's?" he asked.

"Non biological extraterrestrials." Simmons said smirking. Try and keep up with the acronyms."

"Oh. Like CQ, Vector Delta those kind of acronyms?" Epps shot back chillingly.

"Maybe." Simmons replied and worried for a moment that he might have overstepped.

"They call themselves Transformers." Sam put in. He was going to do everything he could to kill the fight before it got started.

"They told you that?" Sam nodded a small smirk on his face.

"They told me a lot." A massive door loomed ahead of them. It wouldn't have looked out of place in front of an airline hanger- except it was underground. Banachek opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a woman carrying a pair of belts in her hand.

"Sir the belts you requested." Banachek nodded and thanked the woman before taking the belts from her. When she was gone he turned towards Sam and Mikaela.

"You're belts." The two teens eyed the belts for a moment checking pokéballs before taking them from Banachek and looping them around their waists. Sam noticed that the soldiers were glancing from them to Banachek trying to figure out what was going on and why their belts had been taken without actually asking. Sam was half tempted to tell them to ask Simmons but didn't.

"Now that that taken care of I want to warn you that you are about to see something that few people have ever seen before. Don't forget to breath." The door rumbled as it opened. Banachek wasted no time in leading them into the room beyond once the door had opened enough. Sam paused only long enough to let Clover out of her pokéball before following. It wouldn't be very long before he wished that he hadn't.

Oooo

Sorry that I'm a little late. I spent quite a bit of time last week at my friends house with her family and cleaning the basement so that I could move back into my room. Sorry for the lack of action but I promise that it is coming.

I'd have made this chapter longer but I'm supposed to be working on another fanfic this week and I really want to try and keep from falling too far behind. There might be some action next chapter though. I'll see you guys in a few weeks. Oh and I hope that you guys get to see DotM and if you have seen it I hope you enjoyed it. I myself loved it.

Oh and regarding Sam's headache. I'd imagine that by now it's more from stress than Spike's battle.

Pokémon

Simmons

Spook- Gengar


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

The fact that Clover had taken refuge behind his legs should have told Sam that what they were about to see wasn't good. If Clover, who was brave as hell, was feeling scared then whatever they were heading towards wasn't good at all. The underground silo that they were standing in was huge by all standards. Multitiered gantries and girders leavened with strands of tubes that carried liquid nitrogen surrounded something encased in blue tented ice. That something was huge, ominous, and bipedal. It was also a few feet bigger than even Optimus Prime had been.

It was another robot. Both Mikaela and Sam found that they couldn't quite take their eyes off of the bipedal monstrosity in front of them. Not that Sam found he really needed too because the next thing he noticed was done so without his eyes. Other than Clover Sam found that he could sense very few pokémon roaming about the room. There were plenty of people but very few pokémon. It made sense too because if the mech in front of them was enough to make Clover want to keep Sam between them then it probably wasn't the best thing to keep nervous and twitchy pokémon out of their pokéballs where they could cause problems.

"Oh my God." Maggie muttered as she stared up at the metal behemoth before her while Glen nervously fiddled with his phone.

"I'll be a son of a bitch." Keller almost whispered.

"This babies the first we found." Simmons said with a note of pride in his voice. He and Banachek were leading the group ever closer to the leviathan in the middle of the room. "We think that when it approached our world, it came in too low over the North Pole." Banachek said. "There may have been an aurora or half a dozen other things that caused it to crash. We think that when it crashed into the ice and for whatever reason fell through the ice and ended up frozen. It's not unlike what happened to you grandfathers ship." He said looking at Sam.

Sam merely shrugged his shoulders at Banachek's observation. He didn't care about the various theories that any of the men working around him had. He didn't even care if any of them were true. All he cared about was the fact that they were standing in front of Megatron. The very being that would try to tear their world asunder without any reason other than he could. And only he and Mikaela really knew what they were all staring at.

"We call it NBE one." Simmons said. The man was wearing the same superior smirk that he'd been wearing when he'd tried to interrogate Sam and Mikaela the night before. "That's an acronym." Simmons added looking at Epps.

"I got that." Epps snapped, his dark eyes narrowed at the man before him.

"They're called Decepticons." Sam said, "And the one standing in front of us is their leader. The harbinger of death himself, Megatron."

"The Decepticons are the bad guys." Mikaela added helpfully.

"I kinda got that from the name." Lennox said. He couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the two teenagers standing next to him. They were taking everything very well considering that was going on.

ooo

As the group continued to converse amongst themselves a small mechanical spider shape was working its way slowly around the room so that it wouldn't be seen. When workers came too close for Frenzy's liking he simply disappeared into the background. It wasn't very difficult considering all of the mechanical objects that surrounded was no way at all that the humans around him would know that he was there and with Megatron in the room with him any of the monsters attention would be fixed upon the more likely threat. For the time being he was safe and could do what he needed to without feat of getting caught.

ooo

Keller pursed his lips as he glanced between Banachek and Simmons. "I guess no one thought to warn me about the hostile alien robot that we were hiding in the basement. How am I to make the right decisions when I don't know where all the pieces on the board are?"

Banachek was apologetic when he spoke: "Its always been that way sir. Roosevelt never told his Secretary of Defense about the Atomic Bomb and he never told him about this either. Eisenhower was informed because he was military and would understand the need for secrecy. Other presidents have kept the secret as well. And until recent events we never had any reason to believe that these beings were hostile."

"So why are they here? I mean why come to Earth at all?" Lennox asked.

"They're here for the Allspark. " Sam answered. Everyone turned their gaze towards where Sam was kneeling. He wasn't looking at any of them instead he had his hand resting on Clover's head and seemed to be looking in her eyes. It almost seemed as if there was something passing between the two. What that would have been none of them would have known. Sam blinked before standing and looking back at the frozen form of Megatron.

"The way it was told to Mikaela and me, Megatron here wants the cube so he can build an army out of our machines. After that he's gonna go on a rampage and destroy our world or he's going to try to at least and when he's done with us he's gonna go after every other world that strikes his fancy." Sam turned a slow circle so that he could get a good look at the people surrounding them and so that he could get a good feel for their emotions.

Banachek and Simmons glanced at each other when his eyes rested on them and for the briefest of moments a feeling of knowing passed between them and to Sam. It took him only a few moments to figure out what the two of them knew. Sam sighed and rubbed both his hands over his face while Clover twined around his legs and gave a soft cry before sitting down. "You guys know where it is don't you."

The area that held the Allspark wasn't as vast as the one that held Megatron but is was just if not more impressive. The Allspark hung in the middle of the room surrounded by umbilicals that both supported and monitored the alien artifact. An observation deck walled with panels of double thick panes of polycarbonate allowed both technicians and visitors to observe the Allspark. As his charges moved closer to the viewing windows Banachek filled them in on what he felt they needed to know.

"Carbon dating puts the Cube here around ten thousand BC. We didn't manage to find it until 1913. It's true age is unknown to us. Every attempt we've made to date it age any further has failed. It's been driving our workers crazy." Banachek shook his head. It was almost as if the continued failure was an insult to him as well. "It was stored in a near by salt mine until President Hoover had the damn built around it." Banachek paused and pointed up. "There's nearly a hundred footballs fields of concrete surrounding us. It's the perfect way to hide the energy that the Cube gives off."

Sam snorted quietly to himself. He knew that his fellow humans had a tendency to think to highly of themselves and he'd just been shown one of the biggest examples he would probably ever see in his life. "You're wrong you know. They said that the Allspark calls to them. Every thousand years or so it sends out some sort of signal or something."

Simmons looked like he was about to open his mouth and say something only to be stopped by Maggie.

"Did you say that the damn hides energy? What kind of energy are we talking about exactly?" Glen gave a quiet groan at Maggie's inquiry. He knew the look on his female friends face. It was the same look that she had when there was something interesting for her to sink her teeth into. Glen also knew that if Maggie wanted to know something then she wouldn't stop until she found out everything she could about it. AS it turned out Banachek was more than willing to share.

"I have a file that you could read through if you really wanted to though it's more equations than words. If you'll fallow me I'll show you."

The chamber that Banachek lead them to this time was barred by a thick steel door that led into a laboratory. The lab itself looked like it had been pulled out of a 1930's science fiction novel. The technology was all state of the art and it was only the old pieces that were pushed out of the way that hinted at the experimentation that had been happening throughout the years before. Slender tentacles of electrical and other cables spread out in all directions. They were all connected to a single transparent box that sat on a raised diesis in the middle of the room. It was also quite posable that the cables ran to it and not from it.

The room in general gave Sam the creeps. He wasn't entirely sure what went on in the room but he was sure that he didn't really want to know. He was going to however because there were a pair of uniformed technicians getting everything ready for whatever was about to happen. Clover rubbed against his leg in an attempt to show her support. It didn't help that she was still feeling wary about the events going on around her.

"Everyone step inside, please. They're going to have to lock us in." The members of the group all sent each other worried looks.

"Why do they have to lock us in?" Lennox asked. His voice was tense and his right hand twitched in the direction of one of his pokéballs. If he needed to let Sidney or Dixon out to get answers he was more than willing to. He didn't like what was going on one bit and he could tell that none of his men liked it either. The door swung shut before Lennox could get an answer. Several locks clicked shut as soon as the door was all the way closed. Nervous eyes glanced around the room and several people looked like they were about to go for their belts.

"The science that we do in here is kinda tricky. It can go from being a really good day to being a really bad day really fast." Simmons said humorously. Epps nodded towards one of the walls and the long slashes that ran through the thick metal.

"Who you guys got in here, Freddy Krueger?" Simmons merely smiled as he nodded his head towards a sign that read: We HAVE WORKED 322 SAFE DAYS. "That happened three hundred and twenty three days ago. That was a really bad day."The smile Simmons had been wearing dropped off of his face.

"Charlie was a good man." One of the techs muttered. Simmons clapped his hands suddenly causing several people to jump and reach for one of their pokéballs. A few had managed to pull one from their belts and were getting ready to open them when Simmons spoke.

"Anybody got a Blackberry or cell phone we can use? Hell a key alarm would even work." The group was silent. None of them seemed willing to hand over anything they had. Banachek walked towards Glen. He could remember seeing the large man playing with his phone earlier that morning. Banachek then proceeded to walk over and confiscate it from the programmer.

"For demonstration purposes." Banachek proclaimed. Glen was in no mood to be accommodating. He'd already been shuffled around the country against his will and he was quite tired of the entire situation.

"Demonstration my ass! If anything happens to my phone you're replacing every song replaced and I've gotta list!" Glens rant was cut short when one of the techs handed him a thick pair of goggles. "Hey, what are these for?" The tech didn't reply. In fact he didn't even seem to have heard Glen's question. He was too busy handing the same goggles out to everyone else in the room.

"Ohhh. Cell phones can be really nasty." Simmons murmured knowingly as he took the phone from Banachek and handed it to one of the techs. The tech placed the phone inside of the box and attached a few cables that were no thicker than wires. The tech then stepped back and closed the box before securing enough locks to hold back a rampaging Tauros.

"Goggles on, please." Banachek advised them, while putting on his own goggles. No one saw fit to argue with the man. Clover even seemed to understand the importance for it didn't take much prodding from Sam for her to curl up on the ground next to his feet and hide her face.

Once everyone was protected one of the tech began flipping switches. There was a slight buzzing noise and then a bright flair of light as energy was drawn from the Allspark a room over and into the phone in the box. After the flair had died both Sam and Mikaela leaned forward. It looked like the phone was shaking. The phone let out a single violent shutter before music began to fill the room. While it was see through the box wasn't soundproof. Then the phone began to transform.

The phone had no intelligence to guide it but it had power from the Allspark to move it the phone went mad. Legs and arms sprouted and moved in all sorts of directions. Directed by the limitless power that had just given it life the tiny robot jerked and swayed wildly before it began throwing itself against the glass of the box that it was trapped in. The only thing that it seemed to know was that it wanted out and it wanted out as soon as posable.

Every human jerked back in surprise at the first impact. Only Clover dared to move closer, rearing up on her back paws so that she could place her front of the edge of the diesis allowed her to bare her teeth and growl at the little machine that was trying so hard to escape its prison. The little mech was unaware of the audience that watched it as it continued to beat itself to pieces against the transparent box, it was blaring heavy metal music the entire time.

"Mean little sucker isn't it? It's like the Energizer Buneary from Hell." Simmons approached the container without fear at the angry little mech inside. At Simmons approach the little robot doubled its efforts to get out of the box so that it could tear into the soft fleshed human that had appeared on the other side. Simmons leaned forward and studied it for a moment before turning to Banachek. "Better zap the little freak before it manages to get out."

The tech he'd addressed nodded in understanding before pulling a small cylindrical charge from a small tube full of them before slipping it into a straightlined tube that pierced one side of the container. The tech waited for the little mech to enter his line of sight before pressing a switch. The box was filled with a flash of light and when the light cleared everyone in the room could see that the little mechanical monster had been torn apart.

It emitted a soft squeal before falling onto its back and revealing the hole that went through its body. Frame and components were melting away before their very eyes. Silence filled the room. Clover only whined as she put her front paws back on the ground and moved to stand beside Sam, who rubbed one of her ears in an attempt to comfort the distraught Espeon. slowly the group of people began to remove their goggles. Simmons seemed to be the only one unbothered by the events that had just taken place for their was a content smile adorning his features.

"Well, what do ya know? Even minnie sabot rounds work on these things. Congrats on figuring that one out Lennox." Simmons moved as if he were going to clap the Capitan on the shoulder only to have the man move out of his reach.

"Don't touch me." Lennox's tone wasn't hostile just very matter-of-fact. There was however no mistaking the implication that underlay it. Steel and bolts not with standing Glen was ready to leave as fast as he could. He'd had enough and he wanted out.

"Okay, I'm out. Grandma needs her insulin. You guys can find somebody else to help you because I'm done! You guys can shoot me if you want to, but I'm not-" The floor beneath their feet shuttered. Not enough to knock anyone over but enough to get their attention and to stop Glen's rant before it got too bad. That fact that the area around them that was technically inert was shaking even a little was enough to have all of them worried.

If the group inside of the lab in the damn could have seen the group of transformed bots, from the F-22 to the MJ-53 copter to the assortment of other oddly perfect vehicles they would have felt much worse. Only Sam and Mikaela would have had a true understanding of what the small army would have in store for them. A lack of familiarity with the Decepticons didn't stop Maggie from feeling the tide of dread that was rising inside of her. Taking a step closer to one of the windows that overlooked the room that contained the Allspark, Maggie fixed her eyes on the alien relic. The Allspark was covered in runes and symbols that she nor any other human on Earth could ever hope to understand. A shiver crawled up her spine when she noticed that some of the markings seemed to be shimmering and she hoped that it was only a trick of the lights in the room behind the window. Lennox however wasn't looking at the Allspark but at the ceiling.

"Those are concussion blasts. Now they could be caused by terrorists or by something else." It was clear that the soldier though it was something else. Keller chewed on his lower lip for a minute, an old habit he'd never quite managed to break.

"Terrorists could never get this close to the damn without someone spotting them. The security here's too tight. It has to be something bigger than that." There was no need for his to specify what that "something" was. They all knew who he meant. It didn't matter if they'd had an encounter or not. Turning Keller let his gaze fix on the slightly glowing Allspark that sat in the next room. "They know that it's here."

High above Colorado a pioletless F-22 hovered dragon-like over the Hoover Damn. The missiles that struck the main aboveground power distribution center immediately caused parts of Las Vegas to go dark.

Several lights in the lab below exploded, and several instruments went crazy. The lab went dark but it lasted only a moment as backup generators kicked in. Lennox's eyes darted about the room and took in the people standing around him. He wasn't sure about the others but he wasn't planning on going down without a fight. It didn't matter who he was about to fight without any weapons. Pokémon could only go so far against an enemy that they didn't know. If he was going to fight he wanted something that he could shoot. Hands clenched for the briefest of seconds before he turned and moved so that he was standing face to face with Simmons.

"Where's your armory?"

ooo

While Lennox was grilling Simmons about weapons the power to a special system of coolers was failing to give the coolers enough energy to do their jobs. The panic that had taken hold of the workers began to fade when backup generators came online and began supplying the room with much needed energy. Their panic resumed full force however when the backup generators failed as well. Readouts and monitors were instantly checked. The location of the failure could be located. The questions was whither or not it could be fixed in time.

If Frenzy had his way then it wouldn't be. He was unseen as he moved around and clipped wires, tore through circuitry and linking and fried microchips. The havoc he was wrecking in the room was all for one thing and one thing only. He knew that he'd been successful when the room around him began to warm. With the power now cut the clamps and cables that had been holding Megatron steady and stable in the middle of the room for years upon years began to retract. Many of the workers in the room began running for the nearest exit as fast as they could. Only a few stayed releasing any pokémon that they had the knew attacks of the icy variety. They could only hope that their feeble attempt to keep MBE one cold worked.

ooo

Lennox and the other had no time to flee, not that any of them really had that much of a choice. The group had moved to a secondary armory and were currently feeding compact sabot rounds into shoulder rocket launchers. Lennox didn't know about any of the other soldier, or the Sector Seven agents that Banachek had grabbed to help them, but he felt a lot better now that he had a weapon he could use in his hands.

"Nellis Base is about fifty miles from here." Keller remembered. "They could have air support here in about ten minutes." Maggie looked up from where she was trying her best to get the phone in her hands to work.

"All the signals are out remember." Glen gave her a meaningfully distraught look. "You wouldn't be able to get a signal down here anyways. That's what a hundred football fields worth of concrete get ya." Glen said as he jabbed a finger at the ceiling. "I thought that they might have run relays through the walls." Maggie said. This started the two of them talking about any possible way for them to communicate with the outside world.

It was Clover nudging his leg and uttering a soft bark that got his brain working. He knew exactly what he needed to do at the moment and there was a good chance that it would help almost everyone. "You need to take me to my car." He said only for Simmons to ignore him.

Sam sighed and shook his head before he looked down at Clover. Clover seemed to grin before she ran forward and rammed into Simmons legs in a half hearted Tackle. Simmons startled cry of rage cause both Sam and Mikaela to smile. It was slightly satisfying to see Simmons attacked after everything he'd done to them.

"You need to take me to Bumblebee. He's going to know what to do with the cube."

"You're nuts."Simmons spat. "Do you not remember what just happened to the phone? That was only a drop of energy. I'm not in the mood to find out what going to happen when one of the bigger robots gets their hands on the Cube." Sam met Simmons' gaze with one of his own. He was more than ready to feed the man before him to Mojo. Sam had had more than enough of the mans stubbornness and there was no way that he was backing down this time.

"You wanna find out whats gonna happen if the Deceptions get the Allspark because I can guarantee that it won't be as nice as whatever the Autobots have planned." The floor beneath them shook again. Putting down the weapon that he'd been preparing Lennox stepped closer to Simmons before speaking.

"I've seen what these things can do. If the one he talking about is anything like the one me and my men fought then we're going to need all the help we can get because if those Decepticon thing get ahold of the Allspark them we're all dead anyways." Simmons snarled, his gazed fixed on both Sam and Lennox.

"How the hell do you know that the brat can be trusted? He's nothing but a delinquent! He cant be-"

Lennox's hands snapped forward and wrapped around the fabric of Simmons' suit. Lennox pulled the startled man forward so that they were face to face before slamming his against the door of a nearby vehicle. Both Sector Seven agents and the Capitan's men drew their fire arms and aimed them at each other.

"I've got a wife waiting for me at home and a baby that I've never seen in person. Not only that but I promised a good as he was dieing that I wouldn't let these things wing. You don't have any idea what your doing right now so I suggest that you take the kid to his damn car." Lennox spoke in a voice that was carefully controlled. The air in the armory was tense enough to cut with a knife only if someone had a fight might have broken out.

Keller took a step towards Banachek. "I'd do as he says. Losings not really an option for these guys." Banachek pursed his lips for a moment.

"If the boy is wrong about this we could be unleashing hell." Epps snorted from where he stood.

"We've already seen hell." Simmons sneered as he relaxed in Lennox's grasp.

"Sure, lets leave the fate of the world on the goodwill of the kid's Camero." Sam barked a short laugh from where he stood. "I doubt that we have that much to worry about then." Mikaela nodded from where she was standing next to Sam.

"From what we've seen these guy are a lot more considerate than you are Simmons." Simmons growled low in his throat but wisely kept his mouth shut. "So where is you're car?" Lennox asked as he let go of Simmons and turned towards Sam. Sam merely smiled and pointed down towards Clover.

"Clover would you be kind enough to take us to Bumblebee." Clover's eyes flashed a darker purple before she turned and began running off towards the armory's door. Sam and the others were quick to follow her.

ooo

While the soldiers, visitors, and agents in the armory hurried after the swiftly running form of Sam's Espeon Clover towards their only hope of knowing what to do something else was happening in the large silo that held the monstrosity that was Megatron. Despite the best efforts of the few who had stayed behind Megatron's form was refusing to freeze again now that it had managed to thaw completely. The clamps and wires that had once held him had all fallen away from him and for the first time in a long time the Decepticon lord was free to awaken fully. Electronic synapses pulsed with new energy and permanently self-lubricating joints began to stir.

Megatron's processor began running checks on the body that it belonged to and on the condition of long frozen limbs. Optic's the color of lava expanded and contracted. Megatron was returning to consciousness and the universe itself trembled in fear. Megatron's optic's focused on the creatures that were scurrying about the room around him trying their hardest to get to the nearest exit. Behind the fleeing humans a sound issued from the long silent vocal processors. The hissed word wouldn't have encouraged any of the fleeing people to do anything but run faster.

"INSECTS."

There was a single moment between that hissed words and the first real movements the mech made. Reaching out a single arm Megatron tore the the restraints that hadn't moved all the way away from his body down.

ooo

Sorry that is is a couple of days late but I figured that I'd make this my NaNoWriMo project again this year. So I waited to continue working on this chapter. Now my work count for this won't include the first few hundred words of this chapter because that wasn't typed today or yesterday. The chapters won;t be as long as they were before because I don't have to wait to go to the library. I figure I'll update every two or three days so that way you guys get a few thousand words and I don't have to worry about the stupid file size thing for deviantart. My other stories will likely be on pause for this month so bear with me. I'm hoping that I can get this finished this moth or at least get past the move part of the story and into the lives of the characters after mission city. I know quite a few of you want to see more of Sam's home life and I plan on giving that to you.

Word count so far: 4233/50000

Pagen


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bumblebee remained tied down to his own examination slab. The room where he was being kept was separate from those that Sam and the others had been led to. Scans ran over both the slab that Bumblebee lay on and Bumblebee himself. The mists that filled the room had been treated with special chemicals and drifted down over Bumblebee's still struggling form and had to be pushed into the room and towards Bumblebee by multiple collection tubes. The room around him was very loud. Not that Bumblebee cared about the scans, or the lights, or the noise.

The yellow mech didn't care what he had to do to get out all he knew was that something bad was happening and he needed to go and find Sam and Mikaela. He'd been given a mission and he wasn't going to fail it now. Bumblebee had to get out. Only it turned out that Sam was more than willing to come to his instead. The doors opened and emitted a group of people that was being led by Clover and Sam.

"Stop. You gotta let him go." Sam yelled over the noise. Banachek ran forward to offer any help that he might be able to.

"You have my authority to release it." he said to one of the scientists.

"He's not an it." Sam snarled though it was likely that he was unheard. Keller came up to stand beside Banachek. If Banachek's authority hadn't been enough to get them to release the robot on the examination slab then chances were that his was. Feeling cowed the lead researcher began giving his men orders. Lights winked off and the mists that filled the chamber were pulled out of the room by fans. Slowly bindings and clamps were withdrawn.

As Bumblebee sat up Sam, Mikaela, and Clover raced towards him. Clover even went as far as jumping up on the examination slab with him.

"You okay?" Sam asked as his eyes traveled up and down Bumblebee's scratched and smudged but undamaged form. Bumblebee looked down at the young humans and nodded before emitting a song from his speakers that was appropriate for their reunion. Sam shook his head.

"Yeah, it's great to see you too but we have bigger problems. These idiots kept the Allspark and Megatron in the same place and I'm pretty sure that the other Decepticons are on their way here now!"

Bumblebee was on his feet almost instantly as he made his way towards the access door that Sam and the others had come through. It didn't take the humans long to follow him. Fresh shocks from the outside began knocking bits of plater and old supports from the ceiling as they ran.

Halfway to the desire are Keller spotted the secret installation's central research room. For half a moment he considered telling Banachek about the idea that was forming in his head but turned towards Maggie instead.

"The National Guard radio may still be working. We can try and get word out over rudimentary frequencies." Maggie thought about it for a moment before nodding and turning to look at a lagging Glen.

"Can you hotwire some gear to transmit more code?" she asked the chubby hacker.

"I don't know. I really doubt it Mags." Glen huffed while he shook his head back and forth. "I'm a decrypter and a coder not an electrician."

"That's bull and you know it," Maggie shot back, "I've seen you make portable drives out of the crap that Radio Shack throws out as useless. Compared to the rest of the stuff you make this isn't even complicated." Lennox moved over to the pair of computer nerds.

"You guys do that! Try and make contact with Nellis if you can and tell them to get our birds in the air. When we get to where ever were going we'll find a way to make contact so that Epps can vector 'em in."

Epps grinned from where he was standing. "We'll put them right on top of those Cons of yours."

Simmons stared at the soldiers. "How are you going to that exactly?"

Lennox shrugged and grinned. "We're gonna improvise."

Keller moved over to where Sam was waiting for them to finish their conversation with Mikaela. The older man had been surprised at how well the younger boy had handled himself so far. Though there was much about both teens involvements that were still a mystery to him. One that would have to be pondered at later date provided that they all lived through the next few hours. "Never give up, son." Keller said as he placed a slightly wrinkled hand on Sam's shoulder.

Sam blinked and turned to look at Keller. "No, never give up. That's a lesson I know very well, sir." Sam responded, before giving the older man a slight nod. A second later he was running towards the room that held the Allspark as their one large group separated into two smaller groups. While soldier, agents and teens ran for the Allspark, Keller, Maggie, Glen, and Simmons started making their way towards the research room.

ooo

The researchers that worked in the Cube chamber had been keep up to date with what was going on throughout the damn by runners and so they weren't surprised at all when a group of soldiers and youths burst into the area. The guards that arrived in the area driving small military vehicles had to be convinced by Banachek to take orders from Lennox. Seeing how Banachek was one of Sector Sevens top agents the handover of command didn't take as long as it would have had the man gone with Simmons and the others. In fact it was much harder to convince the scientists from what had been their life's work and let an alien take over. Neither Lennox or his men had such a problem.

They were more than eager to have one of the alien robots on their side after they had lost comrades to the hands of one of the robots more malevolent counterparts. Epps covered his head as another blast from outside shook the damn around them.

"Better do your alien thing fast, big guy. I don't like enclosed spaces. They remind me too much of coffins." Epps said to approaching Bumblebee. As Bumblebee reached for the Allspark he had a moment of hesitation. He was standing before the very life source of his kind. An object he hadn't laid optic's on for thousands of years. It was strange to be in the Allspark prescience again after so long of searching for it.

Watching Bumblebee stand before the Allspark was almost like watching a human meet God. Mikaela thought as she watched the yellow and black robot reach for the alien artifact that towered over even Bumblebee's head. It was a sight that would stay with her for the rest of her life. Hell, everything she'd gone through since first taking the ride home that Sam had offered was something that she'd remember for the rest of her life.

It was after all one of those life altering events that would forever change who she was and how she saw things. She'd be a better person because of this. If she survived. No one said a word as Bumblebee reached forward and touched the Allspark. Almost instantly the endless hum that the Allspark emitted began to rise and fall and stutter as the artifact responded to Bumblebee's presence. Energy arced between the Allspark and Bumblebee's fingers. It was clear to all that were present that some kind of contact had been made. It was contact that man kind would never be able to know or understand no matter how long they existed.

For the robot and Allspark were communicating with each other with light and not words. When the connection between Bumblebee and the Allspark ended there was a moment of silence so deep that it was almost tranquil. Then both the Allspark and Bumblebee began to transform. Metal folded in wards and outwards. Bent and twisted in ways that metal shouldn't have been able to bend and twist. By the time the mech had finished there was nothing more spectacular for them to look at then a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes.

Though if you had asked Epps for his opinion he would have admitted that the car itself was pretty slick. The Allspark however didn't twist and turn as Bumblebee had but seemed to fold in on itself. Small metallic squares folded inward continously until something much smaller than what had been there a moment before. The only indication that it was still the same thing was the runes that covered all six sides of the much smaller Allspark that now rested in the backseat of Bumblebee's altmode.

It was almost amazing how unimportant it managed to look when it was probably the most important thing is the world at that moment. Doors snapped open and the Camaro's horn began honking anxiously. Sam and Mikaela shared a look before Sam glanced back at Lennox. It seemed like the army man was waiting for him to do something. It made sense in a way considering that Bumblebee was, at least for the time being, his car.

So it made sense that Sam only paused long enough to put Clover back in her ball before he climbed into the drivers side seat. When Mikaela took her place in the passenger side seat both door slammed shut and the engine started with a rumble. There was barley enough time for the teens to put on their seat-belts before Bumblebee accelerated and they were thrown backwards by the force of his acceleration. Military vehicles carrying an assortment of soldiers and secret agents followed the speeding car out of the nearest exit tunnel.

ooo

Deeper within Hoover Damn Megatron was stepping free of the last of his restraints. Cables and wires tore away from his body like they were nothing more than pieces of old Spinarak webbing. The conduits that had been used to continously replace the material in which he had been frozen had broken free and were now spraying super-cooled liquid in every direction. By now there was nothing living left in the silo that had been Megatron's prison for so long. Megatron however had other thoughts on his processors.

The Allspark had been so very close when he had started to wake but now it was gone. He could still sense its presence and its power but both were getting further away with every passing second. He had waited for millenia to reclaim what was his. The short mount of time it would take to get the Allspark from those who were trying to keep it from him would be nothing. It would take no time at all and very little effort would be his head back Megatron peered upwards . His sensors were picking up the presences of other life forms. To the right of where he was standing was the long tunnel that he'd been hauled through when he'd first been bought to this place.

There were no humans or pokémon left in the silo to bear witness to the transformation that was about to take place. Even had their been either Megatron wouldn't have waisted his time in killing them. He had better things to do that took preference over slaughtering the locals. At least he did for the moment. Megatron's form shifted, flexed, flowed, and expanded. When the process was complete what remained looked slightly like a plain and slightly like a fighter jet but only vaguely.

There was the slightest of growls before the plane roared down the tunnel leaving only a thunderous echo in its wake.

After taking a quick reconnaissance of his former prison and its immediate surroundings Megaron circled downwards so that he could land amongst the rocks at the bottom of the damn. Upon arrival he transformed back into his natural bipedal shape and walked up to a second machine. A machine that he knew quite well. The second mech sat perched bird-like on a large finger of granite. The greeting between the two was brief.

"It has been a long time Starscream." Megatron rumbled coolly. A part of him had hoped the his second in command had been off lined while he had been held prisoner.

"Long by even our standards, Lord Megatron." Starscream agreed. He wasn't going to start anything yet. He needed time to plan.

"Many things have changed but much has stayed the same as it often will when there nothing to force it too. The essentials are unchanged and the passage of time is unimportant. Today we achieve our goal and take back the Allspark." Starscream paused in speaking and swept his hand towards the damn and, by inference, everything that existed beyond it.

"The world that we are on is called Earth by those that inhabit it and it now belongs to us. There exist swarms of machine life here just waiting for our touch to bring them to life."

"The insects that swarm this planet must be cleared." Megatron growled. Starscream merely nodded his head once in agreement.

"Once this worlds machines have been transformed then it should take little more than a day." Starscream felt no need to tell Megatron about the creatures that the humans used to fight with. Megatron could find out about them for himself and even Starscream doubted that they would make that much of a difference in the long run.

"It will be a joy to see such a cleansing." Megatron replied. For a moment it seemed as if he was going to say more only he never spoke. Instead he turned his head so that he was looking into the distance. There was something calling to him. A calling that he hadn't felt in eons. It was a calling that would lead to every event that was to follow: transformation, the gathering of allies, and the intended return to war-torn Cybertron.

Starscream seemed to feel it though it didn't seem to be as strong with the F-22 as it was with the warlord. Before any of their other plans could begin this one thing had to be dealt with. It was time for one final reckoning. Everything else could wait until this one thing was done, even the cleansing of the planet of it current inhabitants. After all both he and Starscream agree that it was a process that wouldn't take very long at all.

ooo

There was nothing more than the usual traffic on the highway leading away from Hoover Damn. There certainly wasn't enough to even remotely slow down the convoy of army vehicles that surrounded the black and yellow Camaro that was among them. They were headed in the direction of the army bases that sat just outside of the nearby city. One they had arrived they would have sufficient equipment to defend both themselves and the Allspark form any attacking Decepticon.

Form inside of the vehicle that was carrying him away from the damn Epps sat with a sabot launcher close at hand. His body was tense and ready for the coming battle but his mind was on his fallen comrades. Both Donnelly and Fig were currently alive in their friends mind.

"One shot." Epps kept repeating to himself in a voice so low that it was unlikely that even the soldier that was sitting next to him could hear what he was saying. All the dark skinned man wanted was one good shot. Just a single shot with in range so that he could take one of those soulless metal monsters down.

Epps would be more than happy to watch its guts melt and leak out all over the road as its eyes faded and it died. Epps found however that he had to revise his statement somewhat when his eyes caught sight of the Camaro that was speeding ahead of them. Alien machine or not he thought that maybe just maybe some of the aliens might have had souls.

Inside of Bumblebee Mikaela turned so that she could look into the backseat.

"Is the Allspark, okay?" Sam asked. While it was true that he could have looked for himself he was busy pretending to drive and he wasn't quite sure if looking into the backseat to check on something that other people couldn't see would be a good thing.

"Yes, it's wearing a seat belt." Mikaela reassured him. Sam found that he had to raise an eyebrow at that but otherwise he was silent. As Mikaela turned so that she was facing the right direction her eyes caught Sam's as he turned his head slightly to look at her. The look itself was something she couldn't seem understand. He didn't look particularly worried and the slightly pained look that had been in his eyes since they'd woken from the battle the night before had receded. If anything she would have had to say that his eyes looked unnaturally calm.

It was almost like he wasn't to worried about what was going on in the world around them. It almost seemed to her that he'd simply accepted the situation that they were in and going with it to the best of his ability. Maybe he was. The two of them had already faced down Simmons and his men in an attempt to keep them from getting to Bumblebee, so it wasn't very likely that they could get any lower on the governments totem pole unless the went and handed the Allspark to Megatron themselves and that had a snowballs chance in Hell of happening.

"Relax. Nothings happened yet. If you don't calm down now then when everything goes down you're just going to panic." Mikaela took a deep breath and felt a little better for it. Sam was right if she got all worked up now then she'd be useless if a fight broke out.

Lennox tensed from his spot in one of the army vehicles as an exotic sports car suddenly appeared in the passing lane and accelerated so that it was able to slide into a space next to the yellow and black Camaro. He was only able to relax when one of the side view mirrors flashed him the equivalent of an automotive wave. Any other time such an action would have caused him to question his own sanity.

Things were different now however. The kid had mention something about the Camaro he called Bumblebee having friends that might come looking for him. He had to assume the the silver sports car was one of them. Lennox had to wonder what the sports car would look like when it was transformed. He wondered if the robot was as sleek as the car that it disguised itself as. It wasn't alone however as before long others soon made their appearance. Lennox was surprise when the silver sports car dropped back so that a chartreuse emergency vehicle could take up a flanking position. The tricked out black pickup that showed up next was something that he might have expected. The blaring eighteen-wheeler that rolled in behind the entire convoy however was something that he hadn't expected.

"All aliens to your favorite bilocation." Lennox muttered. There had been more than one time when Sarah was surprised at what he wanted to wear while going out. They had barley made it to the outside of the city when a new disturbance caught his attention. There was major trouble rolling down the highway behind them. Lennox twisted in his seat and raised his arms so that he could alert the other vehicles to the incoming danger.

The blaring siren that sat atop the roof of Barricade's vehicle made helped to clear most of the traffic around himself and his comrades. The cars and trucks that didn't get out of the way by themselves were literally thrown to the side by the mine clearing steel mandibles of Bonecrusher's massive form.

Any vehicle that was moving too slowly for him was simply scooped up and tossed out of the way without so much as a thought on the Decepticons part. He cared nothing for the humans and small pokémon that had been inside of the tossed vehicles. Bonecrusher didn't even bother to slowdown as he transformed on the highway his metal feet cracking concrete and sending sparks flying as he landed. The terrified screams of those that were trapped in their vehicles went unnoticed not because he didn't hear them but because they were simply beneath his notice.

The trucks that were Ironhide and Optimus prime dropped back to take up the challenge that the Decepticon was silently proposing. As Bonecrusher propelled himself towards the pair Optimus dropped back and transformed himself. The sound produced as the two robots slammed into each other was almost like a clap of thunder. Locked arm in arm the pair had no choice but to fall from the upper freeway and crash down upon the freeway below.

A mother driving a van full of screaming and yelling kids barley had time to react to the impossibility that had so suddenly appeared before her. The woman wrenched the wheel over hard only for her van to skid sideways and towards the two fighting robots. Bonecrusher leapt over the van, not to spare the humans inside but to put it between himself and Optimus Prime. He failed however in escaping the pulse blast that Optimus unleashed in his direction instead.

The blast hit home full force and knocked Bonecrusher over the side of the cement lined river basin. Optimus moved warily around the unmoving form of the downed Decepticon. Bonecrusher didn't move at all, not even when Optimus kicked the still form with a massive foot just to be careful. Optimus sensed rather than saw Barricade as he latched onto the Autobot leaders back.

What followed was a flurry of furious movement that only ended when Optimus pried Barricade from his back and slammed him against a freeway pillar. The concrete that surrounded the pillar cracked and one of the metal supports bent slightly. The damage to Barricade was greater however. Barricade himself lay twisted and unmoving at the pillars base. Things were going well so far what with two Decepticons down in only a handful of minutes. Resuming his form of an eighteen-wheeler Optimus blared his horn and pulled back onto the freeway. He needed to catch up with the others.

ooo

The sudden lose of two of their numbers caused the remaining Decepticons to slow and recalculate their plans. This slowing of movement gave their quarry time to exit the freeway and make it into the city. As there was no direct access to the base on the other side, the convoy would have to navigate some of the less traveled streets in order to make their way to the air force base. As they entered a street filled with small stores Lennox motioned for the driver of his vehicle to pull over to the side of the road and park.

Pedestrians looked on at the group of vehicles in awe and confusion while Lennox climbed out of his own ride and made his way towards the idling yellow Camaro with Epps following not far behind him. Sam looked up at the man in confusion when Lennox stepped up to the drivers side winner.

"Give me a minute or two to find an old radio so that I can relay our position." Lennox said as he looked at Sam. Sam nodded. He knew very little about how the military worked. He did however know enough to know what Lennox was talking about if only barley.

"What if they can't call out your air strike?" Lennox almost grinned at Sam's question.

"Well, that would really suck."

"Yeah, it would." Epps added from where he was standing.

Mikaela leaned over Sam slightly to ask her own question. "Shouldn't we keep going towards the airforce base?" Lennox shook his head in a negative.

"It's not good tactics to split up. Just give me a minute." Sam blinked in confusion before letting his eyes dart around him before looking back at Lennox.

"Where are you going to find an old radio?" Lennox grinned slightly before turning and pointing at a store behind him. Sitting across the street from where they were parked was an old pawn shop that had apparently caught the captain's attention.

The bared front windows were filled with all sort of junk both old and recent. the placement of the pawn shop was hardly surprising. There were always a handful of them in any city across the country and Mission City was no different. Besides if they were lucky then they might just find the piece of junk that would save all of their lives.

ooo

The research room and library dated back all the way to Hoover Damns construction. If the 1930's architecture and art weren't enough row upon row of bulging cabinets were some of the first things that caught Maggie's attention.

"Oh my god, paper files." she said in disbelief.

"Welcome to the Mesozoic. The files in here go all they way back to the 1913s." Simmons said to Maggie as he picked up a thick file filled with papers."The files may take a long time to go through but you won't have to worry about accidentally deleting the files."

Off to their left Glen was already taking the back off of one of the many unused computers that filled the room. It didn't take long for Simmons and Keller to begin look for anything that would be able to solder wires and usable microchips into something that would work. As Glen worked he muttered unhappily to himself.

"I'm feeling really anxious here, Maggie. Better keep your distance or I might just throw up on you."

Maggie forced her smile to look encouraging. "I understand completely Glen. Feel free to upchuck if you have to just try to aim first. The last thing we need is for you to throw up on the electronics." Maggie said while pointing to the rapidly growing pile of computer guts. Glen somehow manage to grin back at her.

"I'd puke on you before I'd puke on the gear."

"Thats alright Glen, I know my place in the hierarchy." Maggie said as she placed a reassuring hand on Glen's shoulder. She wasn't going to tell him that this was just about the only time she wouldn't be mad if he puked on her.

Keller dumped an armful of tools on the table next to Glen without so much as a word. Glen dug through the pile before pulling out a small screwdriver and getting to the real work that awaited him in the computer interior. "I could really use a Red Bull right now." he muttered.

"What no Fruity Pebbles?" Maggie asked teasingly. Glen's fingers were almost a blur as they manipulated the components inside of the computer. It was almost like watching a surgeon replace a flesh heart with one made of metal.

"I'd need both hands for Fruity Pebbles."

Simmons didn't know how long the old antenna wires had lain in the back of the room unused and he didn't really care. He simple chose a set and began stripping away the cracked outer covering and the insulation to reveal the copper underneath. He was making good progress on the wires when something slammed into the metal door that led to the access tunnel. Everyone but Glen stopped what they were doing so that they could look at the door.

"That doesn't sound good." Keller commented. A pit of unease already growing in the older man's stomach. The banging and hammering resumed with almost methodical ferocity. Only glen seemed to be able to ignore it as he wired an antenna that Simmons had given to him into the revamped guts of the computer.

"I think I really am gonna barf." Glen mumbled as he he worked. Maggie rushed from his side and headed in the direction of the rattling door.

"Help me hold the door shut." Simmons came up behind her.

"You need to back away from the door! We have protocols for this!" Whatever was on the other side of the door kept hammering away. The doors metal hinges were starting to bend inward because of all of the abuse. Maggie's gaze kept shifting from the door to Simmons.

"What kind of protocols do you have for this?"

"There's a drill we do ever Thursday." Simmons informed them. Maggie shook her head and muttered something about their protocols under her breath.

"Alien invasion Thursday's, I'm sure thats really going to help a lot." Glen called from where he was her head at Simmons Maggie move so that she could help Keller. The older man was shoving a heavy cabinet towards the the heavy paper files that were stored within still had some use after all.

Given their current situation there was a lot to be said about pure deadweight. a portion of the door shuddered and bent forward far enough that a skinny robotic head and part of an upper body were able to make their way through the gap. Frenzy scanned to room before him in order to evaluate its occupants and contents before flexing his torso.

"Get down!" Keller ordered. While me might be a civilian now he had spent his stint in the active military. A trio of deadly disk's were launched from Frenzy' s chest and into the room. Keller tackled Maggie to the ground moments before two of the disks flew over her head. The third disk flew over the keyboard of the computer where Glen was working and nicked one of his fingers before embedding itself into the screen of another computer. Glen practically jumped out of his chair in surprise, nearly abandoning his work as he gawked at the rapidly deteriorating door.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Simmons stumbled over to a glass case that was filled with emergency equipment. "Screw protocols." Simmons snarled. Simmons pulled a riot gun and a box of ammo out of the case and handed both to Maggie. Maggie fumbled with the box for a moment before she realized what she was doing.

"Why the hell did you give me a gun?" Maggie asked as she tossed it to the floor.

"What do you mean why did I give you a gun? I want you to shoot it?" Simmons snarled.

Maggie merely rolled her eyes. "We have pokémon for this sort of thing. Why aren't we using them?" Simmons paused in what he was doing and looked at the young woman in front of him. There was a moment of silence for he began speaking.

"Any thing you have that can use fire, ice, or electric type moves let it out." The pair looked at each other for a moment before their hands reached for their belts. Glen's voice interrupted their actions however and gave them something else to focus on.

"We can transmit."

"Through all this?" Keller asked as he gestured towards the ceiling.

"The network should still exist. It's the transmitters and terminals that went down."Simmons told him. When this place was built every room was wired for radio transmission. When something more advanced came along they took the radios but left the wires. It was more trouble to pull them out than to leave them up." Simmons paused and pointed upwards.

"It's the same with the old antennas on top of the building and the canyon long as they're in one piece they should still work. We're sending Morse out over the wire. Morse isn't advanced so someone should recognize it and send it along." Nodding in understanding Keller turned to Glen.

"Send exactly what I say. "This is Defense Secretary John Keller calling NORTHCOM. Authenticate emergency response Blackbird one-one-"

"-nine-five-Alpha," Glen finished for the older man. The chubby hacker was used to being able to type over a hundred words a minute. It seemed almost prehistoric to him to be typing with only two fingers. one on each key that he needed to use.

Keller however was staring at him. "How do you know my ID?"

"I told your people that I have a hacking problem. I know your codes, the president's codes, and a bunch of other codes. I even know how many time you voted for last years American Idol." Glen said as he tapped away at his two keys.

Keller ground his teth together in annoyance. A few days ago he would have had the chubby man before him locked up for the rest of his life for what he'd just admitted. But now countless lives depended on how familiar Glen was with all the codes that he stolen from hacking. "Just type the damn message!" Keller yelled.

"Okay." Glen paused however his fingers hovering over the keyboard beneath his fingers. "I'm having a serous brain fart here guys. I can't remember my Morse."

"Me neither." Maggie moaned from where she was standing next to Simmons.

"You people have got to kidding me." Simmons said as he release Snip from its pokéball. Glen's announcement had only caused him and the other to temporally forget what they had been doing before. Snip shook himself before he aimed an Ice Beam at the still deteriorating door. There was an annoyed shriek from the other side as Frenzy lunged away from the sudden onslaught of cold. Maggie however was standing by Keller.

"You learned Morse in the navy didn't you?" she asked.

"Sure, thirty years ago." An agitated Keller told her.

Maggie strained to remember something that she had learned so long ago. "There was a song they made you learn for NSA field test but I can't remember it." Maggie started humming to herself as her eyes swept the room. When they landed on Snip's small bipedal form she blushed in embarrassment. A split second later Sparky stood a few feet away from Snip his yellow cheeks sparking and lightning bolt tail lashing. "Shockwave, Sparky."

There was the slightest of crackles before a bolt of electricity launched itself at Frenzy. The small silver mech was forced to retreat for a moment. that moment would be used in an attempt to remember the stupid song that would either get them killed or save their lives. Maggie closed her eyes and went back to humming.

"A dit is a dot, a dot is a dash. Al-pha: dit-dit. It's something like that." Keller's eyes brightened.

"Yeah, that's it. Bravo: dot-dit-dit-dit. It's starting to come back to me!" Simmons glanced at them briefly.

"Thats great. Now sing faster!" he called. There was another sharp crack as Sparky launched another electric attack. Soon after Snip would launch another ice attack or a dark attack. The two of them were taking turns firing at the damaged door whenever Frenzy tried to poke a body part through the hole in the damaged door.

Simmons hoped that they could keep this up because if the door came down the there would be about thirty seconds before the little bot tore into them all. Because he wasn't sure if any of the other pokémon that the group contained would be able to do anything.

oooooo

Here be the new chapter. It's a little late but I spent the weekend at my friends house and left my book here. I needed a little break. I was already getting to the point that I wanted to beat my head in so I though it best to leave this at home. You guys got a little bit of action. I'm doing my best to fit the pokémon into the fight scenes. I'm not too good at fight scenes in the first place so all I can do it pray. There will be more action I promise. I'll have a new chapter in two or three days.

Word Count 11150

Words left 38850


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Lennox pounded his fist against the door of the gated pawnshop didn't matter much to him if Big Rhonda's was open or not. While highly skilled in visual field recognition, Lennox found that he needed none of those hard earned skills to identify the lumbering woman that had descended into the shop as the pawnshops owner Big Rhonda. The woman flashed him a warning glare as she wrenched open the glass-fronted door that sat behind the gates.

"Don't you be bangin' on my door! I ain't open right now." Big Rhonda's words were backed up by the growling form of the woman's Herdier. Lennox cringed back from the barking pokémon before returning his attention to the woman before him. Lennox took a second to compose himself before speaking.

"Ma'am, we have an emergency. You wouldn't happen to have a shortwave radio would you?" The woman before him studied him for a moment. Her eyes taking in his uniform and his face.

"I already told you that I'm closed."

"Ma'am please, if you have a radio-"

"No radio but I've got a CB. Are you payin' cash?"

Lennox ground his teeth together. "Ma'am please it's a matter of national security. Open the door, please." Rhonda's Herdier snarled as Lennox placed a hand on the gate between them.

"Don't you be takin' that tone with me. this here's a matter of Big Rhonda's security and I know my rights. You wouldn't happen to know why none of my cell phones ain't workin', would ya?" Lennox took a step back from the door and unstrapped his hoister to reveal his service pistol.

"Ma'am if you don't let us in them I'm going to have to shoot the lock." Rhonda stepped to the side for a moment and reached for something sitting beside the door. When she reemerged she had a shotgun in her hand.

"G'head and he'll be the least of your problems." Rhonda said as she tilted her head towards her now snarling pokémon.

"You step one foot in here and I'll be shootin' you!" Lennox raised both of his hands so that she could see them and fought against the mad urge to burry his face in them. He was fairly certain that Epps was standing next to the kids somewhere behind him and laughing his ass off.

"Ma'am we don't have time for this."

Rhonda gestured at him with her shotgun. "I got plenty of time. I'm closed."

"Look." Lennox held out his left arm and pulled back his sleeve so that the watch on his wrist was viable.

"I'll give you my watch. It's Military Ranger issue and tells perfect time. by the atomic clock in Geneva. That's in Switzerland." Rhonda glared at him.

"I know where Geneva is. I got three coco clocks that work just fine in the back." Lennox frantically tried to talk the woman into taking his watch.

"You can even scuba dive with it on. It's good up to three hundred feet." Rhonda drew herself up. If was both a warning and a definition.

"Do I look like I'm going scuba diving to you?" she asked. Lennox was more than frantic by now.

"LADY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TAKE THE WATCH!"

ooo

Sparky at her side Maggie found herself leaning against the the filing cabinet that she and Keller had moved with all of her strength. Only she and Sparky were leaning against the cabinet trying to keep it wedged against the door. Simmons and Keller along with Snip and Keller's Lucario, Auron, were leaning against the door itself.

All of them were weary about setting loose anymore of their pokémon. Maggie herself had a pokémon that could use ice type attacks but Pebble wasn't as fast nor as small as Sparky and if she let him out he'd have been the more tempting target than her little Raichu. Glen's Snorlax would have been a big help in keeping the door closed but it wouldn't have kept the little monster on the other side of the door from trying to tear it down and chances were it would succeed eventually.

Besides Fatso was the biggest target that any of them could give the little metal alien and even the Snorlax would eventually fall to the sharp disks that the little robot could fire. Glen, himself, was leaning over one of the jury-rigged computer's speakers listening to electric stutter suddenly sounded above the static that the speaker was still issuing.

"We have a response!" Glen yelled as he turned towards his companions. "They've accepted you're code!" The room around them seemed to get just a bit lighter at that announcement.

"Call in the air strike! Put it into your own words as best you can but you have to let them know whats going on here. Tell them what they need to be looking for and how to respond!" Glen nodded his head and went back to work over the keyboard. Keller cringed as the door they were leaning against finally gave enough to allow Frenzy to squeeze through and enter the room. Upon leaping into the room Frenzy instantly took in his surroundings and began firing one lethal disk after another.

Maggie jerked to the side as one of the disks cut through the air in front of her. At the sudden threat to his trainer Sparky fired off a Thunderbolt that raced through the air only to miss its madly running target. Frenzy remember his fight on the plane and how dangerous that the creatures that humans kept could be to him if he didn't pay attention. He had no intention of letting one of the little beasts in the room end his life before he was ready for it to end. While Frenzy had dodged the attack from Sparky he didn't succeed in dodging the ice shard that slammed into his back.

Never one to waste even the smallest advantage in a fight Snip lunged forward ready to tear into Frenzy with glowing a split second Frenzy's optic's gazed upwards at the area above his head. In that split second he was able to find a quick escape from the beast that was lunging at him. Just as Snip was about to tear into him Frenzy jumped and slammed his feet into the small cat like creatures back. Using the momentum that the smaller body provided Frenzy launched himself into an open vent and disapparated.

"Send that message quick Glen!" Maggie yelled as she turned hear head towards the vents. The entire room had gone silent in an attempt to listen for any sounds that would give away Frenzy's location. The only person who wasn't listening was Glen who was to busy trying to send everything that Keller had asked him to send over the revamped computer.

"I'm going my best her Maggie! The killer alien robot isn't really helping!" he shouted. Keller ignored the two bickering computer nerds as best he could. Unlike the others in the room his eyes weren't fixed on the vents above their heads but on the still for of Auron.

The Lucario had his eyes closed and the nerve bundles that hung from the back of his heads were vibrating. Auron didn't have to use his eyes to find what they were looking for. He had a far better way of finding the danger in the room. Rust red eyes snapped open seconds before a condensed ball of blue energy formed between Auron's paws.

"Do it Auron." Keller ordered. The Aura Sphere was thrown for Auron's paws and slammed into a section of the vents over their heads. Frenzy came crashing down with a metallic screamed as stumbled backwards and into Keller as Frenzy landed near her. The pair went toppling to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Frenzy paid neither of them any attention as he fired a disk at Simmons.

It was only the years of training that he'd been put through that saved Simmons life. The agent just barley managed to move his head out of the disks way as it passed through the air leaving only a lightly bleeding cut as evidence of its passing. Snip hissed as he ran over to his trainer and took up a guard in front of the bleeding man his claws at the ready.

While Simmons was distracted with his bleeding head Frenzy turned his gaze towards Maggie and Keller and prepared to fire as many disks at the pair of them as he would be able. Auron and Sparky were ready however. Several Dark Pulse and Electro Ball attacks slamming home against the small alien. Frenzy shrieked and lunged forward only to be met by Auron for close combat. Paws slammed into Frenzy's frame and knocked the mech back wards.

While he was still off balance Sparky darted in and slammed an Iron tail into the mech's torso over the area where Frenzy launched his disks. Sparky ducked as several disks were let loose. Most of them embedded themselves into the rooms walls or into unused equipment. One however ricocheted off of a metal support beam and headed right back towards its send. Frenzy moved to get out of the way only to have something extremely old slam into him and freeze him in place.

The humans and pokémon in the returning disks way ducked down close to the ground to avoid getting hit. The disk shot over them and slammed into the frozen form of its owner. Frenzy's head hit the ground moments later, ice chipping off and sliding across the floor at its impact. Frenzy's body however was still frozen upright.

"What goes around come around!" Simmons cried with glee as he knelt next to the severed head. Snip by his side. The agent grinned and bought a hand up to scratch at one of his Sneasel's ears. It would take them some time to get the frozen body to pry loose from the floor but as soon as they managed it they were getting rid of it. Simmons looked up at Maggie as the hacker and her Raichu walked by him and towards Glen. Surprisingly the pair of them smiled at each other.

"Did you get the message out?" she asked. Glen sat slumped in his chair and for a moment he didn't bother responding. The grin that broke across his face however told her everything that she needed to know.

ooo

It wasn't long after Lennox had rejoined the others for Epps to make relay contact with the scrambled flight from Nellis. The way they were communicating was strange and took longer than any of the soldiers would have liked but they were at least communicating instead of sitting in the dark like they had been before. If there was on thing that the military was good at then it was improvising on the battlefield. It was even better that there weren't to many officers involved with what they were currently doing.

"Aircraft circling city, this is on site. How copy? Are you able to track our position?" The only reply they received was the sound of static before a low whine became audible. Coming in low and fast an F-22 Raptor passed directly overhead. The plane was flying a lot lower and a lot faster than anyone in the FFA would have allowed. As the plane thundered past Lennox and several others turned to follow it.

"The air force had arrived! Confirm our position." A couple of soldiers fired flares into the sky above their heads. It was immediately evident that they had been seen, for the jet that had flown over their heads a few minutes before began to circle back in their direction.

"Raptor flight, we are five klicks south of the tallest building passed on your recent flyover. We have you visual." Epps said into the CB before he he clicked the switch. He was hoping that there would be some sort of verbal confirmation this time.

There was still only static from the Raptor. The fighter kept coming and it was dropping lower as it approached. Sam tensed as he and Mikaela stood watching the approaching fighter jet. The pair had climbed out of Bumblebee interior while Lennox had been trying to get the owner of the nearby pawnshop to give him her CB radio. Now they stood watching the jet like all of the others with them.

"Something's wrong." Sam said. His eyes were fixed on the plane but it wasn't what he was seeing that had him so worried. It was what he was sensing or rather the lack of what he was sensing. He couldn't seem to feel the piolet that was sitting in the cockpit of the plane and he wasn't sure if that was because if was still out of his range or if that meant that it had no piolet. With every second that passed he was beginning to come to the conclusion that it was the later.

"Sam?" Mikaela asked from where she was standing next to him. Mikaela placed a hand on Sam's shoulder as she looked at him.

"What is it?" Sam blinked and looked at her his face slightly paler than it usually was.

"There's no piolet in that plane." Sam's words were spoken with the type of calm that make a shiver crawl up Mikaela's spine. Sam didn't even seem remotely frightened by what was going on. Mikaela blinked and opened her mouth to say something in response to Sam's statement, likely something about how crazy it sounded, but Sam was already turning so that he could yell at Lennox and Epps.

Within the military convoy several shapes began to shift. Shapes shifted as the Autobots swiftly didn't need to consult with humans among them to know that something was wrong.

"Jazz, Bumblebee, take flanking positions." Ironhide rumbled. Jazz moved to one side as the Raptor came towards them. The jet was flying impossibly low. There was a brief moment where nothing seemed to move before the jet fired an onslaught of mistles at the convoy.

"No!" Lennox howled as he dove to one side in an attempt to keep from getting hit by any debris or shrapnel. Starscream fired several times as his targets ran for cover. Heedless of the danger that they would be put in both Ironhide and Bumblebee moved so that they were able to flip a heavy truck onto its side and in front of the convoy.

It wasn't much but it would help protect the humans that were fighting with them. If only took one mistle however to cut the truck in half. Unable to get out of the way in time Bumblebee was catapulted backwards. His torso going in one direction and his legs going in the other.

The sound of metal dragging along concrete accompanied him until his body ran out of momentum and stopped moving. The Allspark however didn't stop moving for a few yards more. When the artifact did finally stop bouncing it released a single wave of energy that raced across the asphalt and concrete that surrounded it. While the wave of energy had no effect of the materials that made up the sidewalk and road it had more than enough to work with when it came to anything electronic in the area.

A pair of young men that had been watching the goings on with complete and utter shock were forced to leave their vehicle as the energy from the Allspark took affect. As the men ran away from the tricked out sedan every piece of electronics in the vehicle had started to move and sprout limbs of their own. It was almost as if an metal spider of some sort had given birth to a bevy of horrible mechanical offspring.

Even though it was rapidly loosing energy as it went further away from its source the wave still had enough power to break the windows of a nearby super-store. The energy burst rushed through the aisles and swept over the shelves that held various merchandise. It didn't take very long for the shoppers to start panicking and running in every direction. One employee, who was pushing a cart full of game stations, scream bloody murder as arms burst out of the sides of boxes and began to tear through the cardboard that trapped them. In the back of the store TV's and stereos sprouted legs and worked their way off of their stands only to wander about drunkenly on Allspark energy.

Along the stores situated a block over was an expensive gun shop. Within the barred window display a single gun began to put out hesitant tendrils and started to rise before it fell back onto its display mount. What little energy it had been given already spent. There was no knowing what would happen if the Allspark were to let loose a second larger pulse of energy.

Lennox dragged himself from the debris. The soldiers gut instinct was to find the nearest weapon and arm himself so that he could start fighting back.

If need be he'd call on his pokémon but only if the time was right and so far it wasn't. Lennox know however that it wouldn't last. He didn't know how many Decepticons they were facing but he knew that it wouldn't be too much longer before they'd need more than the sabot rounds they were armed with to fight back. Lennox blinked and his eyes rested on Sam and Mikaela. No one had said it but the teens had become his responsibility the moment that it had been decided that they were going to run with the Allspark.

Climbing to his feet the army caption moved to help the teens stand from where they'd been thrown to the ground. Around them the street had been turned into a war zone Water sprayed from a broken hydrant and the road was damaged from where it had been struck with Starscream's mistles. Any civilians that had been standing and staring were now running away from the area as fast as they could.

They weren't taking any chances when it came to getting fired at. Their being gone was all for the better of the soldiers for it gave them one less thing to have to worry about. Laying off to the side of the street Bumblebee began to pull himself forward and out of the wreckage around him with his arms. When Sam and Mikaela caught sight of him they both ran forward looking alarmed. Mikaela's hands rose to cover her mouth as she took his his beaten and battered frame. Sam's hands were clenched at his sides and his eyes were worried.

"Merciful Mew." Sam hissed between his teeth as he looked over his damaged friend. There was nothing he'd be able to do for the downed robot. At least nothing more than stay close and see if he could get Ratchet's attention. as unlikely as it seemed at that moment. In fact that fact that Ratchet hadn't come running was probably a good sign. It meant that while Bumblebee's loss of legs was bad it didn't seem to be deadly. Had the damage been so then chances were that Ratchet would have been right there to look after his comrade.

"You're gonna be okay Bee." Sam said. Bumblebee nodded his head and gave a slight whine before he began pulling himself over to where the Allspark had landed when it'd been knocked free. The artifact lay unprotected and exposed were it had fallen. Lennox and his men however were doing their best to spread out so that some small form of protection would at least be available.

Chances were that they wouldn't be able to outright stop any Decepticon that wanted the Allspark but they were ready to try. Pulling the fallen CB from the wreckage around him, Epps hurriedly ran a check on the primitive device. While the radio was beat-up it was still in one piece. The question to be asked was whether or not it still worked and would transmit a signal? Turning a knob Epps was rewarded with an all to familiar crackle of static.

"This is an air force controller on sight southern city suburbs; we are under heavy fire from rouge aircraft. Does anyone copy?" There was only static in reply. Epps found that he was beginning to hate the sound of static. The only thing that he hated more than the sound of static was the crappy CB radio in his hand. Epps mood improved however when a choppy voice sounded from the CB's single large speaker.

"Yes, army Black Hawk - inbound to your - copy..." Much of what the man was saying wasn't understandable.

"Say again." Epps growled. "over."

"... lay down ... your coordinates..." the voice was saying. Static and mayhem and there was nothing Epps could do about it but tell them what they needed to know and hope that the message made it through.

"From IP Alpha two-seven-three degrees, ten miles November Victor one-two-four-three and three-four-two-seven, NA one-point-two-six klicks north."

"Copy that... ETA two minutes." Two minutes. Two minutes could be an unbelievably long amount of time when you were on an active battle field but it was the best that they could do. Feet moving as fast as they were able Epps proceeded to convey the needed information to as many members of the convoy as he could. It was a task much easier said than done considering what had just joined the battle.

Not more than two blocks away, Blackout appeared, perching like a hawk on top of an undamaged building. It was the ground that was shaking beneath feet that was the immediate problem however. The Decepticon that rounded the corner had been undetected. Hidden in the guise of an Abrams tank. The tank itself flattened empty cars as it rolled towards its intended targets. A couple of small armed Sector Seven vehicles started charging towards the Decepticon firing their weapons as they went.

Not that it seemed to bother the Decepticon one bit. Pulse blasts tore through the air instead of artillery shells as the behemoth fired back at the smaller vehicles. Both charging vehicles were hit and knocked engine over exhaust pipe. When they finally stopped rolling both vehicles went up in flames before exploding. Lennox could only grind his teeth together as he watched.

There was nothing he could do to help them men that had been inside. Even if he would had been able to do something he was reluctant to leave the protective circle that he and his men had formed around the two teen and the downed Autobot. The small arms that they had to defend themselves with would be useless no matter what form the tank was in and sabot rounds would be more useful when the vehicle before them actually bothered to transform. This meant one thing and one thing only in Lennox's mind. It was time to release their pokémon and see what they could do.

Lennox reached towards his belt and fingered the balls there until he found the one he was looking for. Plucking the old pokéball from it holder Lennox found that he could only stare at it. The monster inside had been his first pokémon and was by far one of his strongest. They'd been in more trouble together than he cared to remember.

"Tank, stand by!" Lennox yelled as he tossed his ball into the air.

There was a flare of red and seconds later his battle scared Blastoise was standing a few feet in front of him ready to fight. A loud screech alerted Lennox to Kendra's arrival onto the field. He could already feel the heat that the Blaziken was giving in preparation for the battle to come. Lennox was faintly aware of the sounds of other pokémon as they were freed from their capsules. He hated the thought of putting them in danger but if it meant that they'd win the battle to come them he'd do it. He knew that his pokémon wouldn't stand being left out of a fight. They saw protecting him as their job just like it was his to protect them. They protected each other on the battlefield and it would be that way until the day that they died.

Sam blinked as the emotions of the pokémon around them flooded his mind. They were ready to fight even if the beings that they were going up against caused them to worry. Sam couldn't blame them really. Not when they were reacting to their masters emotions as well as the situation. Most were ready to fight and have the courage to do so. There were a few amongst them however that feared what was happening. It was always easy to tell the difference between battle veterans and none fighters that way.

"Should we help?" Mikaela questioned. She'd been fairly quiet since they'd been shot at. Sam knew she was scared. Just like he knew that his continued sense of calm unnerved her. It was understandable. His grandfather had taught him how to stay calm when the situation around you only continued to worsen. It was after all part of his job. Panic led to mistakes and mistakes could get you killed and if you weren't lucky enough then they'd get someone else killed instead of you.

"Not yet. If we call on one of our pokémon then we're just giving them another target. Besides most of the pokémon here have more experience in these types of battles. For now we'd just be in the way." For half a second it seemed like Mikaela was going to make a smart remark about his advice but the words never came. She simply closed her mouth and nodded.

"We'll help when the times right Mikaela don't worry."

"If you say so, Sam. I hate waiting but I don't want to cause any trouble."

There was no need for them to deal with the tank. As everyone looked on that tank that was Devastator began to transform, so that by the time he was finished he was standing on massive legs. The humans that stood guard over the Allspark all cringed when the turret that rested next to the mech's head pivoted in their direction. Sam reached out to place a hand on Mikaela's arm and this time she reached back.

There was no need for Lennox and his men to fire however for something low slung and fast was making its way towards the transformed tank. Jazz launched himself onto Devastator's back and managed to wrench him backwards just as he fired.

The pulse blast ripped through the air above human heads but did no free Jazz slammed his opponent into a nearby structure just as Ironhide and Ratchet appeared. The pair transformed together and then proceeded to help Jazz beat the living daylights out of the Deception that was unlucky enough to get caught between them. They weren't alone in their attacks. Taking the chance to do any damage that they could Lennox urged his group forwards.

Aiming carefully so that they wouldn't hit any of their robotic allies Lennox and his men let loose a variety of attacks from both sabot rounds and any pokémon attack that wouldn't loose power over distance. a pulse blast from an unseen enemy knocked Jazz to the side and forced Lennox and his men to retreat so that they wouldn' be in the way. There was another reason for their sudden retreat. The figure that had just rounded the corner was massive and looked like something out of their worst nightmares. And this time he wasn't frozen in a block of ice.

Megatron had arrived. Megatron growled as he bent of an injured Jazz. His red eyes fixed on the Autobot below him before he struck out with a hand and sand his claws into Jazz's chest. Jazz made a noise that sounded like an electronic scream as Megatron pulled the spark from his chest. The sphere in the Decepticon lords hand flicked for a moment before fading into nothingness. Jazz fell still at Megatron feet. Megatron merely stared at the empty spark casing for a moment before crushing it in his hand and turning his attention towards the humans that were guarding the Allspark .

He would never have the chance to move against them for not a moment later another rose to challenge him. Tearing through several fences that separated the buildings around them Optimus Prime was transforming even as he raced towards Megatron. In response to Optimus's arrival Megatron began to transform as well. The alien aircraft didn't get the chance to make if far however for as soon as he was close enough Optimus stretched out his arms took a tremendous leap and grabbed hold.

The weight of both mechs was too much for Megatron to hand and both were sent plummeting towards the ground below only slowing to slam into one of the nearby buildings before hitting the Optimus rose to his feet Megatron transformed back into his natural bipedal shape.

"Hello, brother." Megatron hissed as he shifted his position so that he would be able to fight better. Optimus merely gazed back at the mech across from him, his gaze even.

"Hello, brother." Nothing else passed between the pair word wise. There was no need for words when they were facing each other. Everything that either of them might have wanted to say had already been said. There was nothing either could say to the other that would cause anymore pain or any pause in the fight that was to come. At least there would be no words yet. There was only the fight to come and what resulted from it. The pair of them charged at the same time and collided.

Bumblebee found that all he could bring himself to do at that very moment in time was stare at the Allspark where it rested in his hands. The humans perimeter around him had dissolved when the fighting had started and now they and their beasts were busy taking whatever shots they could get at the Decepticons. That was fine.

The lack of guard didn't bother him as much as it should have but the others were close enough to come running should he need them. Besides he had Sam and Mikaela and he was certain that should the need arise that they would be more than willing to come to both his and their own defense. The though of them fighting was still wrong however. The battle the night before had been bad enough. He didn't want to see another one not when what they were facing were Decepticons and not other pokémon. If they were battling other pokémon then they had half a chance of winning.

The Decepticons however would bat their beasts aside like they were nothing and then kill them. He didn't want to see that happen. Not if he could help it and it seemed very unlikely that he'd be able to. Oh, he could still fire his weapons but without the ability to move around on his own he was nothing more than a big yellow target for the Decepticons to shoot at.

The best he could do was give the Allspark to someone who could keep it out of the Decepticons greedy clutches. Reaching forward Bumblebee brushed a single metal finger across Sam's back The teen turned to look at him his eyes going wide when Bumblebee pressed the Allspark into his empty hands.

"Bee, there's no way in hell that I'm leaving you here." Bumblebee shook his head and pointed in a direction that would take Sam away from the fighting.

Sam was the best one for the job. He'd stay calm enough to not get himself into trouble and he had Mojo. He'd seen the teen riding on the big dogs back and had seen the devotion in the monsters eyes. He knew that the Arcanine would keep both Sam and the Allspark safe even if it meant his life. He was also hoping that he'd be able to get Mikaela out as well. "No." Sam growled. Sam had no intention of leaving his friend all alone to fend for himself.

It wasn't in his nature to leave behind those that were injured. He'd been raised to help protect and care for the injured and not to leave them behind. He didn't care if he was putting himself in danger by staying with Bumblebee when he should be running. If he ran and took Mikaela with him then there wouldn't be anyone to look out for the downed robot. His grandfather had taught him to run into danger and not away from it. He wasn't running, not unless he could be sure that Bumblebee had some sort of defense.

Bumblebee merely looked back him bright blue optic's wide and begging. There was the sound of gears grinding together as the yellow mech groaned and gestured away again. Sam shook his head and felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Sam took a deep breath and tried to regain control over his emotions. Getting emotional now wouldn't do any of them any good.

Above the sounds of battle a sudden thumping noise filled the air. Lennox looked up into the air and fought the sudden urge to jump up and down in joy. The Black Hawks had finally arrived. It had taken them half of forever but they had made it. Turning Lennox ran over to the area where he had left Sam and Mikaela standing near Bumblebee.

Sam looked like he was arguing with the mech but Mikaela didn't seem to be with them anymore. She was across the street circling an abandoned tow truck like she was plotting something. Lennox ignored her in favor of going towards Sam. Reaching into one of the pockets sewed onto his uniform he pulled out a compact cylinder and thrust it into the hand that wasn't holding the Allspark.

"Here's a rescue flair." He said as he began pointing at something down the street from where they were at. It was a tall white building.

"I want you to get up to the roof of that building and signal one of the choppers. They'll pick you up. I want you to run and I want you to run fast." Sam blinked and gave Lennox a bewildered look.

"But what about..." Lennox's hand shot forward and took a firm hold of the front of Sam's shirt. Pulling the teen closer the soldier looked directly into his eyes and uttered a series of words that would, unbeknownst to the soldier, change his life more than even the alien robots would.

"You're a soldier now, kid. Everyone here's a soldier until this is done and over with. Get the Allspark out of the city and as far away as you you don't a lot of people are gonna die." Sam blinked his eyes fixed on the man in front of him.

Pure determination was rolling off of the soldier. Lennox thought that he could do it and wasn't really giving him a choice in the matter. Sam turned as Mikaela made her way back over to the small group. The two locked eyes and an unspoken conversation passed between the two. She'd be staying behind but if the way she was glancing at the tow truck was anything then she wouldn't be idle while he was running. As Sam moved to start running Mikaela grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"I'm really glad I got in that car with you, Sam." Sam smiled at her sincerity and gave her a nod before he began running. There wasn't any need for him to call on Mojo. At least not yet. The distance he had to run was too short and Mojo too attention grabbing. This was something that he'd have to do by himself.

oooooooo

Okay so there was a bit more action but not a whole lot. I'm going to try and get as much action in the next chapter as I can. Which means that I'm going to try and actually include the pokémon in the fights against the Cons. I think I've already told you that I'm not very good with battle sceens. I also noticed that there wasn't a lot of Mikaela. She kinda fades into the background in this part of both the book and movie. She will have her time to shine of course. I'm thinking that the next chapter should be the last of the ones where I use the book and movie as a guide so with some luck after the next chapter I'll be getting into the AU stuff. I will of course try and have the next chapter out in the next couple of days.

Teams

Lennox

Tank - Blastoise

Epps

Kendra - Blaziken


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When Sam had been thirteen and had passed the required tests to earn his trainers license his grandfather had been more than happy to sign the papers that would allow him to become a traveling trainer for a year. When Sam had asked him why the older man had simply smiled at him before handing him a small box. His grandfather had told him why while the older man was escorting him to one of the trainer paths that would lead him to the next town.

"When I was young I travel for a year and your mother traveled for three or four. We travel so that we can build our team and learn. It is during this journey that you will find your pillar and learn to control your empathic abilities with their help."

It hadn't happened however. Three months into his journey he'd gotten word that his grandfather had fallen ill and he'd gone home. His team had been to bigger than it had been when he'd left. In fact the only change that had really come to his team at all had been Mojo evolution into an Arcanine and Alexis's evolution into an Ivysaur.

He'd found no pokémon that he felt were right for his team and no pillar to help him learn how to control his abilities as an empath. When he'd gotten back home his grandfather had been too sick to run the preserve. So Sam had taken up the task of learning everything that he could. His grandfather had help him to learn what he would need to know and had pled Sam's case to the league when they'd worried about the property and the pokémon there.

So Sam had taken the rest of his traveling year and learned what others were willing to teach him. By the time his grandfather had died the League and town counsel had come to an agreement on what to do with both him and his home. He'd get to keep his home and live there by himself provided that he went back to school and kept his grades up. The league would send him small cases to help him earn money and work on his abilities. Sam had accepted what they'd given him as the only option and rose to the challenge as best he could. Five rehab pokémon at a time at most as well as fifteen baby pokémon and fifteen unhatched eggs.

So long as he did his jobs and did them well then the League would leave him to it. He was of course expected to go to the collage that they chose for him and get a proper degree for his work after high school but that was a given. A degree in therapy, both physical and mental, for pokémon would get him better cases than broken bones and light abuse or abandonment cases. So as long as he was a good boy they would take him home away and keep it locked up until they though he'd be able to hand it.

The League knew of his family and of their history, or at least most of it, and they didn't want to take the preserve away from the family that had always owned it and lived there. The wild pokémon there trusted them because they'd always been able to and to pull Sam out and place a stranger there would more than likely cause problems. So Sam had his deal and his home and lived with the things he didn't much care for.

He sucked it up and did what was necessary to keep his home safe like his parents and grandfather had done for years and his ancestors for even longer. He'd protect his home and the pokémon there with everything he had even if it meant that he had to fight a war that wasn't his own.

A monstrous shadow loomed over him as he ran. Ironhide offering protection from anything that wanted to stop his made dash down the length of the street before him. The two of them passed cars. many of them were empty while some had been brushed under big feet or had caught fire. The sharp sound of a pulse blast filled the air moments before Ironhide was struck. The mech was thrown off of his feet and into one of the buildings nearest to him.

And while Lennox's words still range clear in his head his orders had been quite unnecessary. Sam had no intention of stopping. Running was the only thing that he could do to keep both himself and the Allspark in his arms safe. If running was what was going to keep them safe then he'd run until his legs bucked and threw him to the ground. And when that happened he'd get up and run some more.

When an F-22 rocketed down the street behind him to to transform into Starscream and block his way Sam only stopped for a moment. His eyes darted as he looked around him before he started running for a narrower side street. There was more than one way to get where he was going. Behind him Starscream sneered and aimed his weapon before firing. Sam shouted and stumbled as the blast tore into the brick, stone, and asphalt around him. The strike hadn't hit him but it had caused him to stumble and slow slightly.

"You are not gonna get me." Sam repeated to himself as he ran. His nerves finally rattled enough for the old and unbreakable habit to make itself known. From the window of a nearby restaurant terrified people and pokémon watched as the Decepticons tore up the adjacent city block. Even the few trainers that were among the group wouldn't had been able to do much. Their pokémon were trained to fight others of their kind and help defend from other humans. They stood no chance against the metal monstrosities that were tearing apart the city.

To face them would surly mean death. They were momentarily distracted however when a red faced teenager ran by the restaurants window. They watched as he dodged between still cars before falling to the ground as a large foot struck the road next to him. Screams erupted from the terrified group as one of the flattened cars was tossed in their direction. The narrower street and his own small size worked to Sam's advantage as he ran.

Blackout brought his foot down once again just barley missing his small target as the human ran. Sam cringed. He needed to find a place where he could hide so that he could get away from his current pursuer. After he managed that then he'd be able to make his way to the rooftop of the building that Lennox had told him to get to. The big question was: Where?

ooo

On the street that Sam had already left behind the battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron still raged. Neither of them were willing to give up the fight that was raging between them. Megatron snarled at his brother before taking a step back and transforming his arms into one of his favorite weapons. The pulse blast that was fired was strong enough to send Optimus flying backwards down the length of the city street.

Lennox winced as he watched Megatron go after his opponent. He was extremely grateful that he and his men were being virtually ignored by the fighting robots even if it was just for the moment. It gave him time to grab hold of Epps' shirt and get his attention. Lennox spun the other man around and pointed to the building that he'd sent Sam running off to.

"Tell the Black Hawks to meet the kid up on the roof!" Lennox said. There was no need for him to add the unspoken: "If he makes it." Epps nodded and went to work on the CB radio.

"Army Black Hawks request immediate evac for civilian boy carrying precious cargo. Subject headed to highest rooftop in immediate vicinity of area of combat."

Ignored by all those around her except for the down Bumblebee, Mikaela broke the driver's side window out of the toe truck she'd been looking at before Sam had run off with the Allspark in his arms. When she climbed inside she'd been hoping find that the vehicle's owner had left his keys behind. Sadly that wasn't the reality of her situation.

Not that a lack of keys was going to stop her. The piece of concrete that she'd used to break the window worked just a well when it came to getting her to trucks ignition assembly. Agile fingers and teeth were used to strip wires. Not a minute later the truck roared to life around her. Looking over her soldier Mikaela threw the truck into reverse and began backing up.

ooo

The office building that Lennox had directed him to was in the middle of reconstruction. There floor was littered with what ever the constructors had been using the last time they'd been working and so there was no furniture to get in Sam's way as he ran. The elevator, Sam noted with annoyance, was also being worked on so there would be no using it to get to the top of the building faster. So his first option having been taken away from him Sam fell back onto the only other option that was available to him.

The stares. As he bolted up the first flight the building around him shook from the force of the explosions that were going on outside.

"This isn't so bad." Sam whispered to himself as he ran up the stares. It was no worse than being forced to run the bleachers in gym class at school. Sam stumbled as the floor beneath him shook. It shook with good reason for a metal skull had just crashed through the floor surmounted. Dark red eyes followed Sam as he ran up the stares.

A single hand tipped with five claw like fingers tore through the stares before him and Sam was forced to jump to the next landing. When Sam stumbled through the door that led to the rooftop he had a small moment of relieved. The rooftop was empty with only a few stray boxes and other small debriefs to navigate.

Sam's fingers fumbled with the flair and he nearly dropped it before he could try and get it to go off. He was halfway across the roof before he managed to get it to ignite. The bright flare of light that shot from the end was an unmistakable sign. It practically screamed "Here I am!". He was sure that everything with working eyes had seen it.

The Black Hawk that had been alerted to his presence was at the side of the building and waiting for him before the flair had fallen back to the earth below. One of the soldiers riding inside had a foot planted on the skid facing the roof. The arm that wasn't holding on to the chopper was stretched out as far as it would go. "Grab my hand!" he yelled when Sam was close enough. Sam leaned out, the wind blow up by the chopper blades almost caused him to be blinked by his own hair. It also made it harder for him to reach out and grab the soldiers hand.

It seemed like it was an unnaturally long way between him and the the hand he was reaching for even though it wasn't really. In reality Sam should have been more worried about the drop down to the ground below him instead of the distance he had to reach to grab hold of the hand before was careful to keep his balance as he snaked out his own hand. He didn't want to fall or to drop the Allspark. Then the world blew up around him.

Stunned by the sudden explosion Sam toppled backwards and hit the rooftop. Sam struggled to see through the rain of debris that had been a copter just moments before. The F-22 that thundered past him as he stood told him everything that he needed to know. Red optics that were filled with menace locked onto him for a moment before Starscream moved on.

ooo

Lennox watched as the flaming wreckage of the Army Black Hawk spiraled downwards to the ground.

"No." He cringed when it slammed into the street and exploded. Lennox wasn't sure if he wanted to lock back at the flaming wreckage or not. He didn't want to know it he'd just caused not only the deaths of the soldiers on the copter but Sam's death as well.

Closing his eyes briefly Lennox tuned his gaze back towards the wreckage only to find his sight blocked. His eyes met a pair of lenses not threatening but questioning. Lennox pointed towards the end of the street.

"The kid he's up there and he's in trouble." The head of the mech before him followed his finger and gazed at the building. Lennox watched as the mech seemed to consider his option's before he began moving.

ooo

With the battle still raging hot and loud around her Mikaela had no help as she worked. There was also no one to stop what she was doing. She'd already parked the truck and pulled the tow chains from where they'd been stored. Now all she had to do was manage to get Bumblebee hooked up and out of the battle zone. It didn't take as long as she had thought to have all of the chains draped around Bumblebee's torso and shoulders.

There really wasn't that much of a difference between the fenders of cars and trucks and the shoulders of an alien robot. Locating the correct lever and pushing it down caused the chains to draw back and pull taunt. This caused the chains to pull Bumblebee so that he was erect. The loss of his legs however meant that all Bumblebee could really do was hang from the back of the tow truck and do nothing.

The loss of legs also meant that the brightly colored bot could transform and even if he could a Camaro with its back wheels missing wouldn't be any good either. Mikaela took a deep breath and glanced around trying to figure out where exactly she wanted to take the injured Bumblebee. The decision was taken out of her hands however when another shape that was less than friendly appeared at one end of the street.

Devastator had finally managed to recover and rejoin the battle. Mikaela began moving just as the tank fired its first blast and knocked her off of her feet. For a split second Mikaela considered calling on one of her pokémon to help her. The idea died a swift death however. Not even the soldiers pokémon seemed to be strong enough to do a lot of damage to a Decepticon by themselves and while Mikaela had a fire type in Adair and could call upon Nessie for an ice type move neither one would stand a chance against the monster at the end of the street. Mikaela shook her head slightly and tried to recover her senses.

If she didn't succeed then neither she nor Bumblebee would survive. Both of them would be turned into mush and she doubted that she'd be able to last very long if she had to give up her legs. Taking a deep breath Mikaela climbed to her feet and began running for the cab of the tow truck. She slammed to door closed with more force than necessary right after she'd managed to slip into the cab. Her foot found the gas and floored it.

The tires spun for a moment before the truck was moving. Turning the steering wheel beneath her hands Mikaela headed for an empty parking lot that sat between two building and had less traffic for her to navigate through. There was another narrower street on the other side of the parking lot. Mikaela only showed when she came to a crossing because it would have been her luck that someone or something would have darted out in front of her had she kept up the hurried pace she'd started out at. Luck for her nothing appeared to slow her down. It was only once she had slowed that she realized how quiet the city around her had become.

There were no sabot rounds being fired and no robots slamming each other into buildings. The city around her was dead quiet. There was no one to tell her to run away or which way she should go on the street. She could go left or right. It didn't matter which direction she went because it was her choice. A building not too far from where she was sitting shook with the force of a concussion blast. Several choice cuss words ran through her head and she took a moment to utter the worst of them.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel so hard that her fingers were white. Spinning the wheel all the way Mikaela chose her direction and pressed her foot down on the gas pedal. She didn't go east or north but back around the block that she and the injured Bumblebee had just escaped from. She was heading back into battle.

It was time for her to stop running. To stop being shallow and petty and do something. If it meant that she got her self killed then it had at least been her choice and her choice alone.

ooo

Lennox panted as he reattached Tank's pokéball to his belt. His Blastoise had put up a good fight but there were only so many times that he could use Ice Beam and the turtle had finally used up his allotted attacks. Sadly they'd never been able to get close enough for the beams of ice to do much more than slow down their opponent.

Tanks aim was good but the Decepticons were hard to hit and firing at the gaps in their armor hadn't been easy. Most of the pokémon that had been released for the fight had been called back. They had helped slow down the enemy but they weren't doing as much good as the captain had hoped. Their attacks had hit too much armor and not enough of the gaps. Lennox knew that if they had been fighting something they were more familiar with then the battle would have been different. They would have been able to do a lot more damage but they weren't used to fighting the metal monsters and that made all the difference.

Lennox was half tempted to try Dixon or Sydney but he wasn't sure if they'd make much of a difference either. They were faster than Tank by a lot and chances were they would have been able to get a lot closer to the tank than Tank had himself, therefor they wold have been able to do a lot more damage. Lennox shook his head. If they started fighting out in the open again he'd give it a shot but at the moment he'd leave them be.

The building that he and his men were currently hiding in was badly damaged but it was the only option that they'd had. If they wanted to get to another building then they'd have to chance the Decepticon that was looking for them. Lennox took a deep breath before calling over a group of men from Sector Seven.

"We've got three stories here. I want you guys to get to the top floor and try to get a better angle on this thing. We'll keep him busy down here." One of the men nodded at him and turned towards the stares the others following close behind him. As they vanished from sight Lennox took another deep breath and turned towards the rest of the men in the room with him.

ooo

Tires squealed as Mikaela took the last corner that separated her and Bumblebee from the ongoing fight. The two of them had appeared behind the hulking form of Devastator. From where she was parked she could see the forms of soldiers and a few pokémon popping up and down inside one of the buildings.

One team seemed to be distracting the mech while the others would fire at the mech before it could figure out who was doing what. When the chance was given Devastator would fire a pulse blast at the soldiers he could see before they began shooting at him again. The Decepticon gave no indication that he even knew that Mikaela and Bumblebee were behind him. Taking a steadying breath and mentally preparing for what she was about to do Mikaela gripped the wheel and hit the gas pedal. The tow truck did wonders in dragging Bumblebee's legless form down the crowded street. The mech's larger form snapping doors off of abandoned cars as they passed.

"I'll aim if you'll shoot." Mikaela shouted through the broken driver's side window. Angry music blared from speakers that she couldn't see as one of Bumblebee's arms transformed into a cannon.

"Bumblebee, shoot that motherfucker..." Mikaela howled as Devastator grew larger and larger in the tow trucks windshield. If she said anything else her words were drowned out by the sound of Bumblebee's own expertly aimed cannon fire. Not long after the first pulse blast screamed past her a second followed. Both shots slammed into Devastator's back. The Con lurched forwards and slammed into the ground where his monstrous form ruined and smoking.

"Nice shot!" Mikaela yelled out of the broken window. Mikaela had driven for her father before but never had there been anything to shoot at her while she'd been doing it.

ooo

Sam cursed as he looked over the edge of the roof that he was stuck on. Chances were good that the only way he'd be getting off of the roof alive would be if he had a flying type in his team. He did have a flying type but Arrowhead had been left at home with the other members of his team. He hadn't needed her because he could ride on Mojo and so she'd been the one left at home when he needed the extra space for Orion.

"What to do!" Sam asked himself as he let his eyes scan the rooftop around him. There had to be another way down. Preferably one that wouldn't end with him as a splatter on the ground below. Sam's surveying was cut short however when Megatron monstrous form crashed through the roof behind him. The pieces of roof that had been torn from the whole crashed down around both Megatron and Sam. Sam cringed and clutched the Allspark tighter to his chest as Megatron rose up before him.

"Clever little insect" Megatron hissed as his dark red optic's took in Sam's much smaller form. Sam found that he could only stare at the monster before him. There was nothing that he could do and nowhere he could go. And no matter how much he wanted to call on Mojo or Spike to help him he wasn't going to. All the mech before him had to do to end them would be throw them over the side of the building and Sam wouldn't have that.

Besides there wasn't enough room for them to fight on the roof. At least not with Megatron's hulking form blocking off most of the area. Sam watched as a single metal hand reached towards him.

"The Allspark fleshling, give it to me." Sam cringed as he backed up, only stopping when his back hit the edge of the building. Sam's grip on the Allspark tightened until her was sure that the corners of the alien artifact were cutting into the palms of his hands. He didn't dare look down and see if it was true or not.

"No, I'm not giving this to you." Sam said his voice sounding much braver than he himself actually felt.

"I admire your brave words fleshling. Few would dare to tell me no. However words won't do. The Allspark, now." Megatron words were calm and for a moment Sam could see why so many had rallied to the Decepticon Lord's cause. Sam shook his head in denial as his eyes searched for a way out of his current situation.

"No. Never." As soon as the words had left his mouth Sam lunged to the side. Not too far away he could see the looped top of the ladder to the building fore escape. If he could get to it then there was a chance that he could get away. A chance that Megatron wouldn't be able to find him. It was a chance that he was going to take no matter how small the chances of success really were.

ooo

Lennox winched as Kendra let out a pained screech before releasing a Fire Blast into the face of the for that had ahold of her bellowed in pain as he let go of the Blaziken's arm. Kendra jumped backwards and landed several yards away cradling her arm. A red beam of light pulled her back before she could take another lunge at Blackout.

Dixon roared as he let loose another electric attack. The Luxray had been doing his best to help his fellow pokémon distract and damage the Decepticon that they were now facing. Sydney had taken her turn and Lennox had called her back when she'd started having trouble running. Dixon wouldn't be out much longer either. Glass wasn't a good thing to run on when there was nothing covering your feet and Lennox worried about how many shards had gotten stuck in his pokémon's paws.

He didn't want to chance infection because he knew that it would be awhile before he was able to have his pokémon treated. As Lennox moved his gaze fell upon the form of a fallen motorcycle. It was likely that the bike's owner had fled when all the fighting had started. The key to said bike was laying on the ground not five inches from the abandoned vehicle. An idea formed in Lennox's mind at that moment and he preyed to God that it would work.

Lennox turned to yell at Epps as he pushed the bike up so that it was sitting on two wheels and not its side.

"Epps, I'm gonna go home and see my little girl." Epps blinked and snorted.

"Like I'm not gonna do the same? I got a little boy I haven't met yet either ya know." The grin that crossed the soldiers face at the though of his newest kid made Lennox grin in return. The happy moment didn't last long however. They were after all still in the middle of a fight for their very lives.

"Lets bring the rain." Lennox said as he pulled the sabot launcher from his back and rested it against the bike's handlebars before he swung one leg over and gunned the engine. Epps followed Lennox with his eyes as the Captain weaved in and out of flaming wreckage and towards Blackout.

"Nellis Raptors you are cleared hot. Choose your target." Epps said into the CB radio. Having delivered the message Epps proceeded to join the rest of the men and pokémon that were in the area. The needed to find somewhere where they'd be more or less able to burry themselves. A pair of planes came in low and angry at the end of the street.

More importantly they'd didn't transform as they took aim on Blackout's raging form. Blackout stilled for half a moment before turning to face the incoming threat. As he did so he didn't see the lone human buzz underneath him, grab the launcher balanced on handle bars, slid the bike so that he was dragging the ground and take aim. The unseen attack tore into Blackout just as he was about to fire his own weapon at the incoming planes.

The mini sabot rounds tore into the Decepticons body and limbs, melting metal, and leaving behind ugly lesions that spread through the metal. While the wounds themselves were killing blows they were enough to distract Blackout so that the incoming planes could launch their own missiles. Missiles that had been fitted with oversized sabot rounds.

The missiles ripped into the Decepticons tearing off an arm and blowing white hot holes in its chest and torso. Blackout shrieked as he fell forwards. Lennox just barley managed to scramble to his feet before the Decepticon fell to pieces.

ooo

He had to make it to the ladder. If he could just make it to the ladder than there was a slim chance that he'd live to see another day. A huge hand slammed down between him and the ladder cutting off his escape route with an impenetrable wall of metal. Megatron other arm rose and Sam cringed. Where a hand had once been there was now the unmistakable maw of a cannon. It fired once the blast hitting the roof just in front of where Sam was standing. T

he shot had been intended as a warning however there was an unforseen secondary effect. The rooftop beneath Sam's feet crumbled and fell away from Sam's feet. Megatron's shot had been too powerful for the root to handle. There was a split second where Sam was sure that he was just barley standing of the edge of whatever was left of the roof the had been under his feet. This proved to be untrue however as Sam fell backwards and down. Sam was very aware of what was happening to him. He knew that he was falling.

The statues that had decorated the rooftop were falling with him. They were quite pretty and Sam found that he was slightly saddened by the fact that he would only get the chance to see one or two up close before they slammed into the ground below. Closing his eyes so that he could block out the world around him Sam found that he was quite ready to hit the ground. And hit he did. He hit hard and much sooner than he'd expected. In fact Sam realized that he hadn't hit the ground at all. The fact that he'd had the wind knocked out of his lungs was enough to tell him that he was still among the living at least for the moment.

That of course brought about the question of what he had actually his. Cracking his eyes open Sam saw that he had landed in the palm of a giant metal hand. A part of Sam thought that he knew the had that had a hold of him and looking up confirmed that he did indeed know that hands owner. Brown eyes met the bright blue optics of Optimus Prime. The two of them were falling towards the street below together.

A furious roar from above drew their shared attention to the enraged form of the Decepticon Leader just as he jumped over the destroyed edge of the building that Sam had just fallen from. Even if both Sam and Optimus landed in one piece chances were that they would be crushed beneath the massive Decepticon. Holding Sam still against his massive chest Optimus twisted as they fell pulling his gun. The first shot he fired missed but the second struck its intended target and forced Megatron off to the side.

Megatron would hit the ground with them but he wouldn't be landing on them. Extending both legs, Optimus jammed his feet into the side of the building nearest to him. The action wasn't meant to stop their fall but to slow them down so that the impact with the ground wouldn't be as bad as it would have been had they hit while going at full speed.

The action was also meant more for Sam than for Optimus himself. The impact would be more harmful to the human he was holding than it would be for him. When Optimus did finally hit the street the cussion rattled the windows of every nearby building.

ooo

Above Epps' head more F-22's from Nellis cruised low and slow looking for more targets. Looking out from where he and several others had been hiding Epps was more than happy to direct them to one.

"Restricted attack, heading west, main target is mobile." Epps barked into the CB. He was half amazed that the piece of junk was still working after all of the abuse that it had been put through. Having landed on his feet it took Megatron no time at all top recover from his fall from the building that he had jumped from. As he landed Lennox and his soldiers popped out of the holes in the ground where they had been hiding and ambushed Megatron's form with as many mini sabot rounds as they could manage to shoot at the mech. Like with the others that they had fired at the round were far from lethal but more than distracting. Much like insects.

"Laze target!" Lennox yelled. "Move it Epps!"

"The rains coming. Get out your umbrellas!" Epps yelled over the sound of repeat fire from hand held launchers.

ooo

As the dust cleared from the crater where Optimus had landed in the street he took a moment to take in his surrounding before lowering one of his hands and uncurling his fingers. Sam slid off of his fingers arms still wrapped tightly around the Allspark. As soon as his feet hit the ground however Sam stumbled backwards more than a little wobbly from the fall. It was only the support of one of Optimus's finger that kept him from falling over backwards.

"Even though it is not the source of your kind you would give your life to protect the Allspark. Why?" Optimus asked his voice quietly incredulous.

Sam took a step forward and away from the support that Optimus's finger had offered him. There were half a million reasons for why he'd done what he had done but there wasn't time for him to give Optimus the complete list. Besides there was one phrase that his father had been fond of saying when he'd been alive. A saying that had helped lead to the death of both of his parents and would have led to his own death had Optimus not intervened. "No sacrifice, no victory."

Sam said. He even managed to give the mech before him half a smile. He was utterly exhausted and he hurt all over and his head was pounding again but he was alive and he would continue living at least for awhile. Sam tightened his grip on the Allspark just a Megatron cam flying around the nearest building. Megatron slammed into Optimus and Knocked the other robot backwards before he was even able to fully regain his feet.

"The ALLSPARK IS MINE!" Megatron howled. That howl was enough to get Sam's slightly stunned brain back into working order. Though his legs were still slightly shaky Sam turned and managed to run from the renewed struggle. Diving jets unloaded missiles at Megatron's monstrous form in an attempt to slow him down. They only slowed Megatron slightly for he didn't care about the injuries that the humans managed to inflict upon him. All that mattered was the Allspark. The source of life and energon for his people.

And all he had to do in order to have the source was catch the little insect that was trying to flee from him. Megatron bent forward and reached out a single hand in order to grab at the little insect that dared to keep him from what was his. Swinging around in an arch Optimus's leg screamed through the air as Sam ducked underneath it. The kick slammed into Megatron and drove him back but it didn't knock him down. The blow to Megatron was simply meant to be a diversion and not a killing strike.

"Aim the Allspark at my Spark! The merging will overwhelm both and destroy it!" Optimus yelled at Sam. Sam found that he could do nothing more than stand of legs that threatened to give out beneath him and stare at Optimus.

"What about you?" Sam asked. It was a stupid question and Sam knew that it was but he couldn't help but ask it. He hated the idea of other sacrificing their lives when there was no real need for them to do so. And it was clear to him that Optimus hadn;t thought his idea all the way through because Sam knew of a better target for this plan.

"Do it now!" Optimus's voice thundered. Sam shifted on his feet and took a few steps in Optimus's direction even though he had no intention of doing as the Autobot requested.

Megatron however didn't seem to know this and for that Sam was more than immediately assumed that the insect below him was going to fallow his brother's order and drive the Allspark into Optimus's spark. Thinking thus Megatron lunged forwards and towards Sam's form knocking the boy off balance enough that one of his arms brushed against one of the sphere's attached to his belt before he was knocked to the ground.

Neither Megatron nor Sam noticed as the ball bounced twice and burst open releasing the monster that had been trapped within.

"No!" Megatron howled as he reached towards Sam. He wouldn't let the little insect take the Allspark from him. There was a deep snarl and the sound of pounding footsteps before something latched onto the Decepticon's wrist with blazing fangs. Megatron snarled at the pain that flared in his wrist as flames licked and burned at the metal under his armor. Red eyes focused on the animal that had latched onto him before he began trying to shake it off.

After a moment his attempts proved worthwhile and the beast let go landing on his feet a few yards away from the Decepticon Lord. Annoying animal dislodged Megatron turned his attention back towards the Allspark and the human that was holding it. After making sure that Mojo had landed safely Sam was swift to return his attention to Megatron's form.

The Decepticon was still leaning in his direction and looked ready to make another reach for him. This was what Sam was waiting for, for as Megatron stretched out his other arm in an attempt to make a grab at him Sam lunged forward and slammed the Allspark into Megatron's chest right where, he could only assume that, his spark was located. The world around Sam burned white and Sam was fairly certain that he'd have to pull back or be blinded. Only he didn't because just as he was about to move there was a soft weight pressing against him and keeping him facing forward. Mojo.

Sam was sure that he smiled at the Arcanine's presence behind him offering his own support in something that was dead;y important to his master and best friend. Sam's attention however was drawn away from Mojo and back towards the burning form of the Allspark when something reached out and touched his mind. Sam blinked and fought the mad and sudden urge to shiver uncontrollably. He had no idea what had decided to reach out to him but it didn't feel like any human or pokémon that he had ever encountered before. Whatever it was was calm and cool. A being of logic and probabilities.

It made Sam think of Porygon and its evolutions. But it wasn't. This lifeform was something else and if felt grateful. For what Sam didn't know and wasn't sure he wanted to know. Then as soon as it had started it was over and the being that had touched him was gone. As was the Allspark. As Megatron body jerked from the sudden overload of power his optic's searched out the form of the insect that had been foolish enough to not only attack him but to Attack him with the Allspark. His optic's found Sam where he was leaning against Mojo's side panting for breath. Mojo however was snarling up at Megatron towering form as if daring the mech to try touching his trainer. Flames licked at Mojo's teeth as Megatron made to reach forward.

There was no need for the attack to be readied however for before he could even bend down Megatron toppled backwards and lay still. Red optic's dark. In the sky above their heads Starscream let out a shriek of rage before he turned and began fleeing. His destination wasn't anywhere on Earth but somewhere where the humans that tried to follow wouldn't be able to reach him. And for the first time in what seemed like forever quiet descended of the city streets.

ooo

Glen and Maggie each supported one of Keller arms as they walked. The older man had turned his ankle sometime during their fight with Frenzy and hadn't noticed that he'd done it until after the fight was done and over with. The three of them along with a smug Simmons were walking along the road that would take them to a service station near the damn where a med-evac chopper was descending. Simmons was tossing Frenzy's severed head up and down as they went a smile on his face.

"Little memento for my trophy case. You did good ace. There might just be a place for you here if you want it." Simmons said to Maggie as he tossed Frenzy's head to his other hand. "No you, you panic." he added as an after thought as his gaze landed on snorted and gave Simmons a strained grin the looked more like a scowl.

"Get in line, Simmons. She's already on my staff." Keller turned his gaze from Simmons to Maggie. "You wouldn't object a corner office would you? It'll have a few good views and is close to the Pentagon. Or a new car."

Maggie almost snorted at the two men fighting over her and at the offended look that Glen had on his face. "No, sir. Though is there any chance that I could get an advance. I owe my landlord a lot of money."

Keller's smile tightened. "Don't push it."

Maggie cringed slightly and gave the older man a slightly sheepish smile. A pair of army men caught the groups attention as they moved forward to take Keller from Maggie and Glen. The army men helped Keller into the air craft.

They were closely followed by Simmons. Glen let his eyes drift around him for a moment. he and Maggie were alone for the time being and though he was sure that it wouldn't last long Glen had something he had to do before they got on the helicopter.

The task at hand would be harder than rewiring an old computer or sending more while an alien robot tried to kill him. Reaching out Glen took Maggie hand in his own only for the blonde tech to snatch it away. Maggie gave him a look that he wasn't sure he liked before reaching forward and taking his hand in hers.

ooo

Lennox emerged from the wreckage that had at one point earlier that day been a city street. His eyes glanced around at the mixture of soldiers and Sector Seven agents. He wasn't at ease however until his eyes landed on Epps and he was able to make his way over to his friend. The two of them regarded one another for a moment before they smiled. Hands rose and a loud _smack_ echoed throughout the street as the men high-fived each other.

Epps would be complaining again within the hour and Lennox wouldn't begrudge him the right. They'd been through hell and back and had survived. Sure, their lives had changed and they'd lose close allies and valued friends. They still had to break the news of deaths to mothers and wives but at that moment all was right in their world. Neither man knew what was to come and neither one worried about it. Both Lennox and Epps were looking forward to going home and seeing their wives and children. It had been far to long.

Elsewhere, Ironhide and Ratchet wandered up another street in search of their leader. Jazz's lifeless form lay cradled in Ironhide's arms and when they found Optimus and were near he lay the mech on the street. Optimus bent down so the he could examine the lifeless corpse of his friend. Nothing was said between the three living mechs.

There was no need for words of any kind. All of them felt the appropriate words without them actually having to be shared. They shared a moment of silence for the fallen comrade before Optimus turned and made his way over to the lifeless form of the mech that had once been his brother. His brother's body lay crumpled and broken in the bottom of a deep crater.

"You left me no choice brother. For this matter to be dealt with one of us had to end. I was willing to give my life though perhaps it is better that it was yours." Soft footsteps caused Optimus to turn and look down. Sam's eyes locked on to Megatron's still form for a moment before he looked up at Optimus Prime. Sam's steps were still slightly wobbly but he had Mojo to help keep his exhausted body upright.

"What will you do now that the Allspark gone?" he asked. There was an unknowable amount of guilt in Sam's words. Mojo whined low in his throat in response to Sam's distress. Sam knew very well what he had just done. He had damned the transformers to a slow and painful death. There would be no new robots now that the Allspark was gone and there would be no going back home for them.

"We will stay here. At least for the time being. Cybertron is closed to us but I think that there is much that our kinds can learn from each other." Optimus's voice was kind as he spoke to Sam. his words were true however. The small blue planet that they were on now didn't seem like a bad place to stay until they figured out what they were going to do next. There was also much to learn about the humans and pokemon.

It would be enough to keep them busy for quite some time. Besides there was a good chance that Starscream would pop up again to cause trouble and it would be best if they were on planet and ready to take care of him. Yes, there was still much to do.

"I owe you my life, Sam." Optimus said, "I didn't anticipate what you were going to do and thankfully neither did Megatron. Humans do not seem to be the most rational of thinkers but your kind can be creative when it comes to solving a problem. I'm grateful that you it fit to spare me my life." Sam blushed at Optimus's words and raised a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. He didn't feel like he deserved Optimus's praise but he wasn't going to argue with the mech. He was to tired and sore and if the growing awareness of others in his mind was anything to go by they still had a lot to do.

The sound of tires drew his attention to the approaching tow truck. Bumblebee was securely fastened to the back and was being dragged along the ends of his legs striking sparks off of the pavement beneath him. They had a lot of healing to do and maybe when everything was said and done he'd make the offer that was growing in the back of his head to Optimus and his men. They might not have had a planet anymore but he could offer them a home even if it was only temporary.

ooooo

Excuse me while I go and celebrate. I hereby declare this part of the story over. Thanks god now I can fill that empty place in my bookshelf with my Transformers novel. So from now on there will be nothing for me to follow. It'll all be me. I have ideas most of what I want to come next. I just need to get them in order and planned all the way out. The next arc will take place over a period of about six months or so and will end when the Autobots leave and NEST is formed. I tried to out action with pokemon in this chapter but it didn't really work. Eh, I'm not gonna fret about it right now. I still have work to do after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Sam wasn't really sure how they'd ended up going to the Nellis Airforce base. All he really cared about was the chance to sit down for awhile and the chance to take care of his pokemon. He and all the other humans had already been looked at by the medics and had any injuries treated. Now all that was left was for their pokemon to be looked at and everything would be okay.

Things would be better of course if Sam could find something in the cabinets that he was digging through to feed Orion with. He would have preferred a baby bottle but one of those water bottles with a pull top would work just as well. It didn't really matter so long as he was able to feel Orion. A group of Military officers had promised to bring food for both human and pokemon alike and seemed to be taking their sweet time about it. While Sam himself wasn't really hungry the people and pokemon around him were and the feeling of it was about to drive him up the wall. He wanted the day to be done and over with already so that he could go home, get yelled at and go to bed and sleep for the next week.

Mikaela sat not to far from where Sam was digging through cabinets giving him a weird look. It was one that Sam would ignore until he absolutely had to answer the questions that he was sure were threatening to burst from her mouth at any moment. One of which probably had to do with him offering to let the Autobots stay on his property until they had somewhere to go.

The simple answer would of course be because he could. There was plenty of room on the preserve and so long as they were careful about stepping on things Sam had no problem with them staying at his home. He'd taken away their chance and returning to their true home so it was only fair that he be the one to offer them a new place to stay. Sam gave a cry of triumph as he pulled a bottle that he could use from the cabinet before him. It was old and battered but it would be good enough to hold milk and feed Orion from. Turning Sam's eyes swept across the many forms of pokemon and soldier that filled the room. Lennox and Epps were missing as well as Keller and Simmons and the Autobots themselves.

Sam was only half certain that Ratchet was still fixing Bumblebee so that meant that Optimus and Ironhide were probably off having a pow-wow with Lennox and the others. The soldier pokemon however were still in the room with them and waiting for treatment. Epps' Blaziken was still cradling her arm close to her body and refusing to let any of the medic's near. Every time one of them would try and take a step closer to her she'd screech and snap her beak at them.

She was making it quite clear that she didn't approve of the strangers around her being near her when her master wasn't in the room with her. It made plenty of sense of course. Most of the pokemon in the room were only calm because their trainers were with them. They knew that their masters were safe and that they were safe and there was no need to be on alert or ready to fight. At least there wasn't a reason to fight yet.

Sam doubted that a group of pokemon this large would be able to keep from at least squabbling for very long. There would be some sort of fight eventually. That was part of the reason why the only pokemon he even had out at that moment were Mojo, who'd refused to be returned to his ball, and Clover.

When the group around him died down some Sam would let out the rest of his team. Sam knew that Orion and Yin would need to be feed soon but he was reluctant to do so with so many strange pokemon in the room. Orion wouldn't be a problem but Yin would. She'd see each and every one of them as something to fight against and end up annoying half the room before he could stop her. It really wouldn't be very civil of him to let Yin loose just yet. No, they could wait for a bit. He had something else that he needed to do before he got to Orion and Yin. Shaking his head slightly Sam sat the bottle down on the counter under the cabinets and made his way across the room towards where some foolish medic was still trying to treat Kendra.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Mikaela asked as she followed after him.

"Helping." Sam answered. Mikaela raised an eyebrow at his short answer.

"Helping what?" Turning so that she could see him Sam jerked his thumb over his shoulder and towards Kendra.

Mikaela gave him a flat look. "Are you seriously going to go near Epps' Blaziken?"

Sam nodded his head. "Sure, she's not gonna hurt me." Mikaela opened her mouth to comment but an angry screech made her stop short. Both her and Sam were standing about five feet away from Kendra who was looking at them like she was going to roast them and them eat them.

"Sam!" Mikaela said as she made to grab his jacket only to have him move out of her reach. Sam gave her a smile before turning and slowly making his way closer to the irritated pokemon. Kendra snapped her beak at him and when that didn't show any results she exhaled a small flame. Sam didn't back down however.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna help." Sam took another step forward. The entire room had gone silent around them. Both humans and pokemon alike held their breath as they watched Sam take yet another step closer to the pokemon before him.

There would be no way for him to get out of the way in time if Kendra chose to attack him. The only thing that would save him now that he was so close was Epps himself but the black soldier wasn't in the room with them. Mikaela swallowed and turned so that she could look for Sam's pokemon. At this point they were his only hope. Only they hadn't moved an inch from where they had been when Sam had been digging through the cabinets on the other side of the room.

Neither of them seemed worried about Sam getting attacked by another pokemon. If anything they seemed calm, relaxed and a little amused by the goings on in the room around them. Mikaela's mind suddenly flashed back to when Bumblebee had fought off the Decepticon that had been after them. When she'd been worried about riding in the yellow bot Sam hadn't hesitated.

He'd told her that he wasn't scared because their pokemon hadn't been scared and Mikaela wondered if what was going on now was anything similar to what had been going on then. Wondered if Sam had no fear of the monster before him because his pokemon had no fear. Mikaela's head jerked back towards Sam when one of the near by soldiers made an awed noise in his throat. He had a good reason too.

Sam stood not even a foot away from Kendra his fingers digging into her arm as he felt along the bone. He was muttering to himself as he did so and at one point stopped only long enough to free another pokemon from it's ball. The Ivysaur he released was small and female and had a color around her neck with an Everstone set into it so that she wouldn't evolve. "Lexie would you be kind enough to get me some bandages from one of the medic's?" Sam asked. He didn't even bother turning to look at the small dinosaur like pokemon as she nodded and started making her way over to one the medics that had been trying so hard to get close to Kendra and treat her earlier.

When approached the man held out two rolls of tan bandages and the Ivysaur took them from him with a long vine extended from the flower on her back. When Alexis returned to Sam he simply held out his hand so that she could place one roll into his palm. He never even bothered to look up from where he was wrapping the bandages tightly around Kendra's arm.

Alexis sat quietly by his feet as he worked. It was almost like she was waiting for Sam to ask her to get something else for him. He never did however for as soon as he was finished wrapping Kendra's arm he bent down to rub the space between her ears, thanked her for her help, and turned to walk away. Alexis turned her head so that she could look at Kendra, said something in her own language to her fellow pokemon, and then followed Sam as he made his way back towards the bottle that was sitting on the counter.

Mikaela hurried after him not quite sure what to do but she did want to know what was going on. Because Sam was different. Not the different that left him an outcast in school but the kind of different that meant he'd never been the same. The kind of different that meant that there was something special about you and she wanted to know what it was. Wanted to know why he was able to face death and angry pokemon and stay calm and collected. Why he seemed to know things that he really should have had any business knowing. She never had a chance to ask him however.

"Sam Witwicky ladies and gentlemen! Empath extraordinary!" Simmons all but yelled as he and the others walked into the hanger followed closely by the Autobots.

Sam cringed before turning a glare at Simmons. Mojo growled from where he was sitting near by before climbing to his feet and moving so that he was standing next to Sam. It was clear that if Simmons so much as made a wrong move Mojo planned on tearing him to pieces.

"You're an empath?" Mikaela asked, her voice more than a little shocked.

"Yes, I'm an empath."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Mikaela snarled.

Sam crossed his arms. "Because its not any of your business." Sam said as he stared her down. And it wasn't. Sam hadn't planned on telling anyone that he was an empath simply because it wasn't something that they needed to know. That and people tended to annoy the piss out of him when they found out. So his empathic abilities were something that he didn't really tend to talk about unless he absolutely had to and Simmons had gone and shouted it out to the entire room.

"You've been poking around in my head haven't you?" Mikaela asked him her voice held a tinge of anger to it. Sam grumbled something and turned to face her completely.

"I'm an empath Mikaela. I can't read minds so no I haven't been poking around in your head. Not that I'd want to. I can sense your emotions so before you go and get all huffy don't worry about any of your secrets getting out. I only know what Simmons told me about." Sam jerked his head at the jerk in question before he went back to his business.

Some time during the whole thing with him wrapping Kendra's arm food and drink had been bought to the hanger. The room around him was quiet for a few moments after his and Mikaela's little fight. It didn't take long however for the soldiers and pokemon to begin making noise and Sam fought the urge to wince at the sound. No one dared come near him while he seemed to be in a bad mood and he was thankful for it.

Sam took a moment to grab a couple of small milk cartons from a cooler, a small bowl from a stack of other bowls meant for the pokemon, and a container of pokemon food before he made his way out of the hanger with the pull top water bottle in hand. He wasn't going to wait around for people and pokemon to calm down and finish eating in order to feed Orion and Yin.

It was warm enough outside that he'd be able to let them out there and not worry about them getting cold and it wasn't hot enough for them to overheat. He'd feed the rest of his pokemon after he was finished with the babies. They could wait the babies couldn't. No one stopped him as Sam left the area and went outside. Though he was followed by several sets of eyes and a few pairs of optics as he went.

Bumblebee lingered with Optimus and the others for a moment before he followed Sam. Though he did so with a bit of hesitation on his part. If Sam was really mad then he didn't want to make it worse. He also didn't want the human outside with only his pokemon as protection. Sam merely glanced back at him once as he made his way towards a less crowded part of the base. He didn't care if Bumblebee followed him. He couldn't feel Bumblebee like he could the others and the bright yellow mech wasn't adding to the constant pain in his head.

"Are you alright?" Sam almost jumped at the soft British accent that sounded from behind him. It wasn't really surprising that he had. He'd only heard Bumblebee speak once so far and that had been a request to stay with him.

"I'm alright Bee," Sam replied, "I'm just tired and sore. I'm ready to go home and sleep until I can't sleep anymore."

There was quiet between them for a moment as Sam followed behind Mojo and Clover with Alexis and Bumblebee on his heals. The small group was something odd to behold to any that happened to see them walking towards one of the back buildings. It was only when Mojo plopped down in the shade of an old and likely unused building that Sam stopped.

"I don't really care for crowds on a good day and given the nice big group that was in the hanger I was bound to go off eventually. I'm not mad not really I'm just kinda fed up with everything that's going on I guess." Sam shrugged and plopped down on the ground beneath his feet. "I can stand the pokemon. It's the people that give me problems."

Bumblebee said nothing as he watched Sam get to work. One carton of milk was used to soften the pokemon food that he'd put in the small bowl that he'd been carrying while the other was poured into the pull top water bottle.

It almost seemed that Sam had forgotten that Bumblebee was there with him for all the attention that he paid the yellow robot once he started preparing food for Yin and Orion. He hadn't of course it was simply that he had a job to do and everything else could wait for a few minutes while he did it. Bumblebee didn't seen to mind the quiet that fell upon the group as Sam released Yin and Orion so that they could be fed.

Yin upon being directed to her food dug in with gusto. She acted almost like she hadn't eaten in years with she way she was shoveling the slightly soggy pellets into her mouth. Sam merely shook his head at her actions and plucked Orion from where he'd been sitting on the ground his red eyes taking in everything that they could. Feeding Orion from the water bottle wasn't as easy as it would have been had Sam been able to feed him from a regular bottle. The end of the bottle wasn't meant to be suckled upon like the rubber tips of usual bottles so Sam had to squeeze the bottles body in order to get any milk to come out. It didn't help that more milk seemed to be running down Orion's shout than down his throat.

Not that the little Riolu seemed to mind all that much. He simply seemed happy to be outside and to have something to eat. The scene was peaceful and even when Yin had finished shoveling her food down her throat and started running around Clover and Alexis in an attempt tot get them to play with her it remained peaceful. Sam gave a quiet sigh as some of the stress left his muscles and some of the pain left his head. He hadn't had enough time alone for the pounding in his head to ever stop completely and it was nice to know that he wasn't going to be stuck with a permanent headache one everything was said and done.

Now all that needed to happen was for who ever was in charge to give him the all clear so that he could go home and get ambushed. And there was no doubt in his mind that he would get ambushed as soon as he steeped onto the front porch of his house. Dorian would have his shirt collar in a heartbeat and then he'd be in for a nice long lecture while he was poked and prodded and looked over by Faith and Hope.

He had no illusions of being able to escape, not with Dorian being a psychic type. The fact that he was still alive and could go home was a relief as well. There had been so many times that day that things could have gone differently. So many times that he could have died or been injured. There were so many mistakes that he could have made that would have probably ended the world as he knew it. So many things to be grateful for. Sam uttered a soft prayer to Shaymin as he pulled the empty bottle from Orion's mouth and wiped the little bogs snout with the sleeve of his jacket.

Orion gave a soft bark before he sniffed at one of Sam's fingers and began chewing. Sam winced slightly as Orion's sharp little teeth dug into his skin. He didn't mind though because most of the baby pokemon that he cared for ended up doing this eventually. And though their milk teeth were needle sharp they never broke through the skin. It was when they lost their baby teeth and got new ones that he had to put a stop to the chewing on his fingers. He had more than enough scars of the slender appendages as it was and he wasn't looking to add anymore.

Mojo yawned and stretched from where he was laying behind Sam and Sam fought against the sudden urge to do the same. Sam smiled slightly at the big dog before he turned his head towards the group of people that was making their way over to him.

"Well I'll be damned." Keller drawled as he, Lennox and Epps stopped a few feet away from the ragidy looking teenager that sat surrounded by pokemon. "The last time I saw a Riolu was when Auron himself was one."

Sam huffed a laugh and looked up at the slightly limping man. "Not many people are willing to give up a Riolu egg and even fewer actually know what one looks like when they get one." Sam nodded down to the little dog in his arms that had stopped chewing on his fingers and was looking at the group before them with interest. "I think I got him by mistake or something. I'm not sure what that lady thought he was but I sure she didn't think he was a Riolu."

"I'd say she didn't." Keller said as he took a few steps closer. Auron however didn't stop until he was close enough that he could crouch down and touch noses with Orion. The little dog seemed delighted by the presence of the older pokemon and went so far as to lick the elders nose in greeting. Auron pulled his head back and shook it in surprise.

Sam snorted and set Orion on the ground next to Auron's feet before he stood up. "What can I help you with?" Sam asked.

"Well, I was hoping you could do something for us?" Lennox said. Sam's eyes shifted to the brown haired soldier and then to the belt that he held in his hand. Lennox's own belt was still around his waist and his Houndoom whined where she stood next to him. The feeling of sorrow told Sam all that he needed to know and with a soft sigh he stepped forward to take the belt from the older man's hands.

"When did their trainer die?" Sam asked as he ran his fingers over pokéballs that had been bleached by too much time in bright sunlight. It was Epps who answered his question. "Died in battle not even two days ago." Sam winced. Fresh loss always had its own flavor and was a type of pain that he wasn't quite used to. At least he wasn't used to having to deal with entire teams that had just lost their trainer.

"I'm not quite sure what I can do. And that's if I can do anything but I'll try." Sam said as he turned to Mojo and nodded. Mojo sighed and pushed himself up from the ground only stopping so that he could pick Yin up by the scruff of her neck. Yin let out an angered hiss at the treatment and began to struggle in his grip. Rolling his eyes Sam reached over and gave her tail a swift yank.

The sharp pain was enough to make her stop struggling and was no more than her parent pokemon would have done had she been born in the wild instead of being born in his care. Glancing down Sam smiled a small smile as he saw Orion held in Auron's arm. The old Lucario seemed more than happy to carry the younger pokemon around.

"So where are we going to do this?" Lennox nodded his head back towards the hanger that Sam had escaped from earlier.

"Same hanger. Keller had all of the soldiers empty out not to long after you left. Simmons said that it'd be easier for you if you didn't have all of the people and pokemon around to distract you." Sam grumbled slightly.

"The bastards right too." Sam hated to admit it but the jackass knew his facts.

oooooo

You know I've had this typed since the end of November and never seemed to get around to posting it. There's actually a bit more to this chapter but I didn't manage to get the scene finished before I lost the laptop that I'd been using. So I figured that while I have my brothers computer for a few hours I'd get this posted while I still remembered too. That and it lets you guys know that I'm still alive and kicking. I'm sorry I more or less vanished but like I said the laptop I had been using was taken back by its owner and I can't use my brothers computer to type up chapters for my fic's. At least not until he's out of collage for the year. I don't think he'd appreciate me clogging up his computer with my big long list of nonsense words. Well they're nonsense to him. I do type a little on occasion and now that I have extra notebooks I'll be able to start writing my chapters seeing how I can't type them up yet. But who knows maybe I'll be able to do little stuff here and there though I make no promises.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and even though I'm pretty sure I'm back in the hole with you guys I'd love it if you would be willing to drop me a review of some kind. Who knows maybe I'll get lucky and get a knew laptop for my birthday or maybe a computer screen that works.

Pagen


	13. Pokemon Team List

Ok, so here's a list of each other the characters and their pokėmon. I'm using this chapter to replace a pesky author's note that I don't want to delete because it screws with the chapters and reviews. This chapter may or not be updated with other teams and pokėmon in time. I'm not sure.

Please remember that Sam's team changes depending on the baby pokėmon he takes care of. When the next egg hatches he will either replace one of his stronger pokėmon or Yin so he can keep the new baby with him. You'll notice that there are two blank places with just nicknames. They are there because said pokėmon will be revealed in the next couple of chapters and I don't want to ruin the surprise. There's also a good chance that the Who's Who list that has been at the bottom of the chapter will not be reappearing from now on. Ok that's it. Go read.

**John Keller**  
Lucario - Auron  
Noctowl - Gates  
Alakazam - Cohen

**Glen Whitmann**  
Snorlax - Fatso  
Magneton - Pole  
Snubbull - Pug  
Porygon 2 - Terabyte  
Porygon-Z - Gigabyte  
Klinklang - Gears

**Tom Banachek**  
Golbat - Leiter  
Breloom - Blunt  
Jolteon – Lucy

**Jorge "Fig" Figueroa**  
Serperior - Maya  
Tauros - Toro  
Flareon - Xiuhte  
Honchkrow - Metzli  
Xatu - Aztec  
Archeops - Quetzal

**Robert "Bobby" Epps**  
Golduck - Charlie  
Skarmory - Storm  
Blaziken - Kendra  
Zangoose - Yankee  
Electivire - Watts  
Krookodile - Luther

**Maggie Madsen**  
Empoleon - Pebble  
Raichu - Sparky  
Leafeon - Autumn  
Castform - Vane  
Porygon - Kilobit  
Misdreavus - Misstress

**Mikaela Banes**  
Typhlosion - Adair  
Altaria - Cupid  
Lopunny - Venus  
Gothitelle - Lilly  
Lapras - Nessie  
Roserade - Thorn

**Miles Lancaster**  
Swampert - Manson  
Ambipom - Delany  
Simisage - Elvis  
Mr. Mime - Pennywise  
Bonsly - Bonsai  
Toxicroak – A-Rod

**Sam Witwicky**  
Ivysaur – Alexis (Lexie)  
Nidoking – Spike (belonged to Sam's dad)  
Espeon – Clover (belonged to Sam's mom)  
Arcanine - Mojo  
Riolu (baby pokėmon)  
Mienfoo – Yin (baby pokėmon)  
Pikachu – Sparkplug  
Unknown pokėmon – Arrowhead  
Unknown pokėmon - Indigo

**Seymour Simmons**  
Gengar - Spook  
Mightyena - Tobias  
Sneasel - Snip  
Dusknoir - Reaper

**Will Lennox**  
Blastoise - Tank  
Houndoom - Sydney  
Luxray - Dixon  
Steelix - Titan  
Rhyperior - Trigger  
Braviary - Valiant


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Most people when faced with a grief stricken Tauros would have the sense to get out of the charging bull's way. Sam however wasn't most people. It helped of course that said bull started dangling three feet off of the floor as soon as it came anywhere near him. This of course was thanks to a well-timed Psychic attack provided by Clover.

Out of all of the grieving pokėmon that he'd seen so far Toro had been the only one to even attempt to lash out at him. To be fare however he was a Tauros and they didn't tend to be known for being happy and calm creatures. So as things were Toro was going to hang in the air until Clover decided to put his hooves back on the ground and Sam was more than okay with that because if it wasn't Clover taking care of the grieving pokėmon then it would be Spike.

And the last thing Sam wanted to do was get the old Nidoking involved in things because there was no way that that would end well for anyone and the last thing Sam wanted at that moment was another fight. He'd had enough fighting over the past few days to last him a good long while.

"You have him Clover?" Sam asked as he looked down at the Espeon. Clover barked and nodded her head in reply before turning her softly glowing eyes back towards Toro. Sam offered Clover a small grin before he moved over to the rest of the grieving pokėmon. It wasn't just Fig's pokėmon that were all gathered together in a group of grief either but Lennox and Epps' pokėmon were there as well. The other pokėmon being there was the best thing the soldiers could have done for their friend's pokėmon because the more support they had now the easier the whole grieving process would go on them and on Sam himself. It also helped that there wasn't anyone other than him and the pokėmon in the hanger.

While Sam had no idea what all of the others were doing he found that he couldn't really bring himself to care all that much. He had a job to do here and he was going to do it to the very best of his ability for as long as he could and no one was going to stop him from doing it. Sam had told Lennox and the others that he'd need as much space as possible to work or else he wasn't going to be able to help. Much to his shock and awe neither Lennox nor Epps had put up much of an argument.

Hell, they had even agreed to let their pokėmon out so that they could help. It was great to have people listen to him for once instead of fighting him every step of the way. Sam understood that sometimes what he could do unnerved people and that made it hard for them to work with him. He was fine if the arguments were meant with the best interests of the pokėmon in question at heart but there were others who argued because they though he was trying to rob them blind or thought that he was going to turn their pokėmon against them.

It was the people that hated and feared him because of stupidity that hurt him the most. Such negative emotions always felt like bee stings. But none of that mattered because here and now he had the trust of two people who were willing to not only leave their pokėmon with him but the pokėmon belonging to their dead comrade with him as well and that was always a wonderful feeling. Sam stepped lightly as he moved over tails, wings, and legs.

The last thing he wanted to do was disturb the calm that had fallen over the group as he made his way towards the middle of the group were Fig's pokėmon were sitting surrounded by the others. Mojo barked from his place on the floor as Sam approached. The big dog had Fig's Honchkrow and Xatu sitting on his back and didn't seem bothered by either one at all. Then again Mojo was used to being sat on by a bunch of little pokėmon so it made sense that he wouldn't mind the two birds using him as a perch. The soldiers Flareon was lying between Mojo's front paws and had the big dog's head resting on his back.

Sam offered the pokėmon an understanding smile as he sat down and leaned against Mojo's side crossing his legs so that he was sitting Indian style. There were times when words weren't needed in order to comfort those that were suffering. Now was one of those times. There was nothing for him to do other than sit and offer his support and understanding because Sam knew the type of grief they were dealing quite well and he also knew that the pokėmon around him could tell what he was. All pokėmon could recognize an empath when they were close enough.

No one understood why pokėmon could tell the difference between a normal human and an empath (or any other psychic really) and no psychic that Sam had ever heard of had ever cared. Sam's lips twitched as a pair of scaly heads rested on both of his knees. Reaching out Sam ran his hands down the snouts of Maya, Fig's Serperior, and Quetzal, his Archeops. The pair closed their eyes in comfort as he scratched their heads. Sam closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The feeling of grief that ate away at his senses wasn't the worst thing that he'd ever felt before and he wasn't surprised at all when tears began to fall from his own eyes.

There was nothing wrong with crying for those that couldn't anymore. The soft sound of hooves on cement caused Sam to turn his attention towards Toro as the bull made his way through the group of pokėmon surrounding them.

"It's okay." Sam said his voice quiet as Toro stopped and stood in front of him. The bull snorted once before leaning down and nosing at the tears that were running down Sam's face. "I promise that everything will be okay. It'll hurt for a long time but eventually things will get better. Toro snorted again before laying down and resting his head between Sam's upraised knees. There wasn't any fight let in the Torus and it seemed like the bull wasn't in the mood to through another tantrum.

Sam offered Clover a smile as the Espeon moved so that she was laying up against Fig's Flareon. With a soft sigh Sam let his eyes roam over the pokėmon that he was surrounded by and couldn't help the warm feeling that seeped into his mind at their presence. Most of the smaller pokėmon were lying around him and offering their friends silent support. Orion and Yin were curled up asleep between Lennox's Houndoom and Epps' Zangoose the two pokėmon having managed to wear the babies out without disturbing the other pokėmon.

The rest of the pokėmon like Lennox's Blastoise and Rhyperior or Epps' Krookodile and Blaziken seemed to be standing guard around them as if they expected something or someone to jump out of the shadows and attack them. Some small part of Sam felt bad for not knowing the names of the pokėmon that he was watching over and were watching over him but there was still time for that to change. He could ask their names once Lennox and Epps were back from where ever they'd gone after leaving all of their pokėmon with him.

He'd only though to ask the names of the pokėmon he'd be working with directly. Thankfully neither man had seemed offended by his lack of asking. Sam was quiet sure that they'd though it'd be easier for him to keep the names straight if he only had six new ones to keep straight in his head. If that was in fact the reason then they'd been right in their assumption.

(o)-(o)-(o)

Lennox huffed a surprised laugh and shook his head in disbelief at the sight that greeted him when she stepped into the hanger where they'd left Sam and their pokėmon. He hadn't known what to expect when they did eventually return but it surly wasn't what he was seeing now.

"I'm not sure if I should feel betrayed or not." Lennox said as Epps walked up beside him. The black man at his side couldn't seem to do anything but laugh and shake his head.

"I was expecting something but this wasn't it. Man, think he'd be willing to babysit for me?" Epps asked with a laugh. The only way to describe the large room before them was complete and utter calm. The only movement other that breathing and Sam's continued petting of Toro's head was the movement from the pokėmon that had formed a sort of perimeter around the group. In truth neither man had been expecting it. They'd been expecting something of course just not what their eyes were telling them. They hadn't expected anything too bad, a bit of bored chaos maybe or for there to have been a fight between two of the pokėmon presents.

They hadn't been expecting the calm and quiet atmosphere that hung about the hanger. Hadn't expected that their pokėmon would be just as calm and happy lying in a group around Sam as they were when they did the same with their trainers. It was something that neither Lennox nor Epps had ever expected to see in either of their lives. Oh, both of them had heard about people with empathy and they'd know a soldier who meet an empath once but that had been it.

It was hard to believe that the scrawny teen sitting in the middle of their pokėmon was an empath and according to Simmons he was a powerful one. Truthfully, Sam didn't look like he'd have that kind of power at all but then again big things had a tendency of coming in small packages.

The tear tracks that ran down Sam's face however hinted at what was really going on, at least to some small extent. For all he knew though Sam could have just been the type of person that cried easily. Lennox supposed that judging a book by its cover had never been truer than it was when he was watching the skinny brunette surrounded by pokėmon that didn't belong to him.

"You can come in you know." Sam called from within the hanger. His voice was clear and easily heard. Lennox and Epps shared a single looked before they began walking towards the group.

"Wasn't sure if we'd disrupt the process or not?" Epps said. Sam offered the black man a smile.

"You belong here too. Their trainer was your friend and they know and trust you. So long as you aren't in the mood to fight or anything I won't stop you from being here." The unspoken "I have no right to stop you from being here" hung in the air for a few seconds before Kendra pushed Epps down so that he was sitting next to Yankee and Sidney and the baby pokėmon that were sleeping between them.

The Blaziken moved as if she was going to push Lennox down as well but a soft growl from Sidney had her pulling back. Lennox offered his pokėmon a small smile before sitting down on his own. Dixon proceeded to drop to the floor with the grace of any cat and placed his head in his humans lap. Lennox rolled his eyes and snorted but began rubbing between Dixon's ears anyways. All of his pokėmon had done well that day and they all deserved a little something as thanks for their hard work.

"So, is this the entire process?" Lennox asked as he made a gesture towards the pokėmon that were surrounding Sam. Sam gave a soft snort before nodding.

"People like to think that there's some big secret to what I do. Some process that only empaths know about and can apply. It's all lies and bull." Sam said as he shrugged and reached over to rub Maya's head.

"I sit and I share their pain and grieve with them. That's all and the pokėmon take it so well because they can sense that I understand and want to help. Grief that is shared is grief that is lessoned." As Sam finished speaking he turned his attention back towards the pokėmon around him. Toro didn't seem to mind that Sam had split his attention between him and his teammate. In fact Toro and most of Fig's other pokėmon seemed like they were only minutes away from taking a nap. Judging by the tear stains left on fur, scales, and feathers it was quite understandable. Crying tended to wear a person, or in this case a pokėmon, out like nothing else.

There were several minutes of quiet between the people and the pokėmon in the hanger. It didn't take long for both Lennox and Epps to start fidgeting where they sat. It was clear that neither man seemed to know how to break the semi awkward silence that had fallen over the group. Thankfully neither one of them had to because it was Sam that spoke up before either of the soldiers could.

"What going on with the Autobots?" Lennox and Epps blinked before turning to look at each other.

"Not really sure kid. I know that so far everyone's squabbling among themselves. I think Keller was going off to argue with the DOD or something when we left him." Epps said as he offered Sam a shrug. It was clear that Epps didn't have any sort of clue about what was going on and he didn't seem as bothered by the lack of action. Then again given the day that they'd just had it wasn't very surprising.

"What about the Autobots? Where are they?" Sam asked.

"Sitting outside waiting for all the bullshit to end so we can leave." Heads turned towards the new voice that had just entered their space. Mikaela was standing a few feet from the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. It appeared that she'd been given a change of clothes and had taken a shower sometime after she'd wondered off with Maggie and Glen.

"Can we leave?" Sam asked ignoring the annoyed look that Mikaela was giving him. Sam offered her a small smile as his eyes darted towards Mojo before moving back to Mikaela.

"I don't know but if you're planning on making a break for it take me with you." Sam and the soldier laughed.

"That is up to him." Sam said as he made a gesture at Mojo. The large dog turned his attention towards his trainer and barked his tail wagging. It was clear that Mojo was more than willing to take them where ever they wanted to go.

"That'd be an awful long ride kids." Lennox said even though it sounded like he was tempted to do the same. Epps shook his head in amusement before offering his two cents.

"Being saddle sore isn't fun, man. If we leaving I wanna be in something that I can sleep in during the ride." Epps was speaking from experience. His wife had tried to teach him how to ride her Zebstrika once and it hadn't gone well. He hadn't been able to sit right for days after that ordeal.

"Well you're in luck there gentlemen." Keller's voice rang through the hanger as he walked up to the group. The other man looked worn down and ruffled but happy with himself. A small smile sat on his face causing laugh lines to appear around his mouth. That could only mean good things.

"Sir?" Lennox asked as he and Epps stood up and saluted the man. While it wasn't really a necessary action it had been habit for so long that neither man was sure he could break it.

"Good news all around," Keller said as his gaze darted between the four.

"Things are settled for the moment and you'll be free to go soon." Lennox and Epps grinned at each other while Mikaela made a relieved noise that managed to sound frustrated at the same time. Sam sat still for a moment however a thoughtful look on his face before he worked his way out from under the pokėmon that had taken over his lap.

Stretching as he stood Sam uttered a soft "stay" to Mojo as the pokėmon moved to follow him. The dog snorted but remained on the floor. Sam's steps were gentle and precise as he moved. Looking at him now you would never have known that he'd just spent over an hour sitting in the same spot with his legs crossed. If moving hurt at all one wouldn't be able to tell by simply looking at him.

"What do you need us to do?" Sam asked as he joined the group. Keller blinked as id shocked before shaking his head slightly and replying.

"The usual son. They need to debrief you and you have papers to sign but after that you're free to go."

"What about the Autobots?" Sam asked because he needed to know if he'd be opening his home to the aliens or not. If he was then he needed to make a list of things to do and if they weren't he was going to need to fill out paperwork for a stolen car. Lots of things to do either way he supposed. The smile that Keller offered him and the slightly amused feeling told him all he needed to know however.

"For now they seem more than happy to go home with you and we're tired enough at the moment to let them." Sam didn't say anything but he smiled and reached for the pokéballs on his belt. It was time for them to go home.

ooooo

I'm so very sorry that it took so long for me to update this and that this chapter is so short compaired to the others. We got a new laptop around Christmas and about two weeks after that I managed to find the word on it. I started working on fic's a day or so after that. I actually started this chapter in late febuary. Sadly it took me awhile to actually get it finished. I'd get going and then get stuck and wouldn't be able to figure out where to go next. I wrote myself into several corners while doing this chapter. I plan on updating this story at least once a month. Twice if I'm really lucky. I'm a bit swamped at the moment story wise however. I'm working on a very long Avengers one shot.

Now onwards to Gen 6. Yes they will be included in this story. Though it will be awhile until they show up. Though I may manage to work them in sooner. It all depends on when we get info on the new pokemon and what that info is. If any gen 6 pokemon do appear in this during the next few chapter chancer are they won't play a major role. Though I am considering reworking a few teams if I'm able. Also for those of you who I told I wasn't going to cover Revenge of the Fallen. I might have lied to you. I'm not sure though because I'm still cosidering it.

Please drop me a review and let me know what you think.

Also my authors note will be staying up for now. It screws with reviews if I take them down. I may change it to a list of pokemon so that way you guys can have something to look at that will tell you which pokemon belongs to who and what their names are.

Pagen


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